MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


BEING    EXTRACTS    FROM 


THE  JOURNALS   AND  LETTERS 

OF 

CAROLINE    FOX, 

OF   PENJERRICK,  CORNWALL, 

FROM    1835    TO    1871. 
EDITED    BY   HORACE   N.  PYM. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.   B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 
1882. 


A3 


TO 

ANNA    MARIA    FOX 

THESE   RECORDS   OF   HER   SISTER* S   LIFE 
ARE   MOST   AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

BY 

THE    EDITOtf. 


HARLEY  STREET,  1881. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
1835- 

PAGE 

Meets  Davies  Gilbert — Dr.  Joseph  Wolff — His  account  of  Lady  Hester 
Stanhope — Of  Qrummond  of  Albury — Visit  to  Derwent  Coleridge  I 

CHAPTER   II. 
1836. 

Falmouth — Meets  De  la  Beche — His  geological  maps — Bristol  British 
Association  Meeting — Tom  Moore — Dr.  Buckland — Wheatstone — 
John  Martin  —  Professor  Sedgwick  —  Carclew  —  Visit  from  Lady 
George  Murray — Anecdotes  of  Royal  Family — Admiral  Fitz-Roy — 
Lady  Byron  and  her  daughter — Sir  Edward  Belcher — Begum  of 
Oude  —  Her  conversation  —  Murray  —  George  Combe  —  Cowley 
Powles — Molve  Mohammed — De  la  Beche's  anecdotes  .  .  4 

CHAPTER   III. 

1837- 

Sir  Richard  Vyvyan — De  la  Beche  and  the  West  Indies — George 
Wightwick — Snow  Harris — Lord  Cole — Visit  to  Grasmere — Hart- 
ley Coleridge — Wordsworth — Poem  by  Hartley  Coleridge — Liver- 
pool— Sir  David  Brevvster — Dr.  Whewell — Sharon  Turner — Cap- 
tain Ross — British  Association  Meeting — Dr.  Lardner — Phrenology 
— Professor  Airy — W.  E.  Forster — Davies  Gilbert — Anecdotes  of 
the  Royal  Society — Charles  Fox — Henry  Mackenzie  .  .16 

A*  v 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 
1838. 

PAGE 

Paris  —  Becquerel  —  Arago — Dr.  Dal  ton — OdilloirBarrot — Anti-Sla- 
very Meeting  in  London — Lord  Brougham's  speech — Stormy  dis- 
cussion— Daniel  O'Connell — Visit  to  Deville — Royal  Society's 
Rooms — Call  at  King's  College — Sir  Charles  Lyell — Lister — Sir 
Fowell  Buxton — Queen's  Coronation — View  from  Athenaeum  Club 
— Dr.  Channing — S.  T.  Coleridge  and  the  Gilmans — Sir  John 
Bowring — Edhem  Bey — Edward  Lane — On  Shelley  and  Byron — 
Mezzofanti 30 

CHAPTER   V. 
1839. 

Professor  Sedgwick — Washington  Irving — Newstead  Abbey — Sop- 
with — Chartists — Hope — Charles  Mathews  the  Elder — Anecdotes 
— Curran — Bishop  Philpotts — Sir  John  Soane — Trel>ah — Irvingism 
— Bishop  of  Norwich — Dr.  Buckland's  Lecture — Hutton — Lord 
Thurlow — Day  &  Martin — Fauntleroy — Charles  Lamb — Malibran 
— Sir  John  Bowring  electioneering — Pope  Pius  VII. — Mahomet  Ali  42 

CHAPTER    VI. 
1840. 

Robert  Owen — Nadir  Shah — John  Moultrie — Hartley  Coleridge's 
Poetry — Soulhey — Meets  John  Sterling — Henry  Mill  and  his  family 
at  Falmouth — Sterling's  conversations — Dr.  Calvert — Julius  Hare 
— Sir  Boyle  Rocne — Lord  Macaulay — Penjerrick — S.  T.  Coleridge 
— Bentham — W.  S.  Landor — John  Stuart  Mill  arrives  at  Falmouth 
— His  opinions  and  conversations — Count  D'Orsay — Thomas  Car- 
lyle  and  Edward  Irving — Death  of  Henry  Mill — Cunningham — 
Ashantee  Princes — Letter  from  J.  S.  Mill  to  R.  Barclay  Fox — 
Carlyle — His  Lectures  on  Hero-Worship — Prince  Consort  at  Exeter 
Hall — Speeches — Count  and  Countess  Beust  .  .  .  -56 

CHAPTER   VII. 
1841. 

Dr.  Calvert  returns  to  Falmouth — His  conversations — Sterling — His 
table-talk — He  settles  in  Falmouth — Visit  from  John  M.  Lawrence 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE 

— Dr.  Calvert's  increased  illness — Joseph  Bonaparte  at  Falmouth — 
Emerson  —  Wordsworth's  opinions  —  Story  of  Webster  —  British 
Association  Meeting  at  Plymouth — Sir  Henry  de  la  Beche^-Pro- 
fessor  Lloyd — Sir  John  Franklin — Visit  from  Colonel  Sabine — 
Conybeare  —  Professor  Owen  at  Falmouth  —  His  conversation — 
Anecdote  of  Lady  Holland — Lecture  by  Dr.  Lloyd — Story  of  Lord 
Enniskillen — Dr.  Calvert  dangerously  ill  .  ».  «  •  -  126 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
1842. 

Meets  J.  A.  Froude — Death  of  Dr.  Calvert — Sterling's  Epitaph  upon 
him — Sterling's  conversations — Letter  from  Mrs.  Fry — News  from 
Mill — Story  of  Lady  Holland — Meets  Professor  Owen  in  London 
— An  afternoon  with  the  Carlyles — Conversation  of  Carlyle — Rev. 
Derwent  Coleridge  in  Chelsea — Sees  F.  D.  Maurice — Dinner  at  the 
Mills' — Attempt  on  the  Queen's  life — Amelia  Opie — Meets  Words- 
worth— His  opinions — Visits  Coldbath  Fields  Prison  with  Elizabeth 
Fry — Sterling  returns  from  Italy — A  morning  with  Westmacott — 
Anecdote  of  Lady  Byron — Anti-Slavery  Meeting — Visits  Hanwell 
with  Samuel  Gurney — Meets  Mrs.  Schimmelpenninck — Her  con- 
versation— Letter  from  Carlyle  to  Sterling — Carlyle's  opinion  of 
Professor  Owen — Story  of  Edward  Irving  and  Carlyle — Herman 
Merivale — W.  E.  Forster  at  Falmouth — Carlyle  on  the  Miner  Ver- 
ran — Letter  from  Carlyle .161 


CHAPTER    IX. 
1843. 

Letter  from  Carlyle — Michael  Verran — Strange  story  of  a  Friend — 
Visit  from  Sir  Edward  Belcher — Mill's  "  Logic"  published — King 
of  Prussia  and  Tieck — Caroline  Fox  breaks  small  blood-vessel — 
Sterling  leaves  Falmouth — Caroline  Fox's  opinions  on  Emerson, 
Carlyle,  and  Schleiermacher — Espartero  in  Cornwall — Trebah — 
Visit  from  W.  E.  Forster — At  Norwich — Meets  Bishop  Stanley — 
Sir  T.  Fowell  Buxton — Story  of  Admiral  Fitz-Roy — George  Bor- 
row— Amelia  Opie — Dinner  at  the  Bishop's — A  morning  with  Mrs. 
Carlyle — Professor  Owen  at  home  ......  192 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   X. 
1844. 

PAGE 

News  of  Verran — Letter  from  Carlyle — -Dr.  Arnold — London — Meets 
Mill — Visit  to  Carlyle — Andrew  Brandram — Hartley  Coleridge — 
Windermere — Hartley  Coleridge's  conversation — A  morning  with 
Wordsworth — His  opinions 205 

CHAPTER    XI. 

1845- 

William  Tawell,  the  Poisoner — S.  Rigaud  and  Louis  Philippe — 
"  Eothen" — Sir  G.  B.  Airy  at  Falmouth — "  Serena,"  a  Poem  by 
Sterling 218 

CHAPTER   XII. 
1846. 

Mrs.  Barnicoat's  bread-and-butter — Infant-school  experiences — Sam- 
uel Laurence — London — Meets  Dean  Trench — Evening  with  F.  D. 
Maurice — Professor  Owen  at  the  College  of  Surgeons — Dean  Mil- 
man — Visit  to  the  Mills — Carlyle's  conversation — Geneva — Meets 
Merle  d'Aubigne* — Story  of  Longfellow — Returns  to  London — 
Visits  Sir  Edwin  Landseer — Ernest  de  Bunsen — Falmouth — Pro- 
fessor Lloyd  and  Dr.  Ball — Archbishop  Whateley — Anecdotes  of 
him — Humboldt — Carclew — Sir  Roderick  Murchison — Herman 


Merivale 


223 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
1847. 

James  Spedding— Dublin — Morning  with  Robert  Ball — Meets  Dr. 
Anster— Sir  Arthur  Helps— Story  of  Sir  William  Hamilton — Bristol 
— Mrs.  Schimmelpenninck — London — Archdeacon  Hare — Meets 
Baron  Bunsen — George  Richmond — Mrs.  Carlyle — Her  conversa- 
tion—Geraldine  Jewsbury — Thomas  Erskine — A  Carlyle  Mono- 
logue—Francis Newman— Hope's  Gallery — Dr.  Southwood  Smith 
— At  Westminster  Abbey  with  Dean  Buckland — Story  of  Napoleon 
I- — Anecdote  of  Mrs.  Carlyle — Burnard  the  Sculptor — Meets  Pro- 
fessor Adams  at  Carclew — Chantrey  and  Lord  Melbourne  .  .  233 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
1848. 

PAGE 

Hare's  "  Life  of  Sterling"  issued — Abdication  of  Louis  Philippe — 
J.  A.  Froude — French  Politics — Samuel  Rundall — Guizot — Arthur 
Stanley — Professor  Lloyd  at  Penjerrick — Captain  Ross  —  Jenny 
Lind — Fichte 248 

CHAPTER   XV. 
1849. 

Death  of  Hartley  Coleridge — George  Wightwick's  Lecture — Letter 
from  Carlyle — "  Nemesis  of  Faith" — Rush's  Trial — J.  W.  M.  Tur- 
ner— Visit  to  the  German  Hospital — F.  D.  Maurice — His  conver- 
sation— Lady  Franklin — Guizot — Story  of  his  escape — His  opinions 
— Samuel  Rogers — Hears  Cobden's  speech — Visit  to  Mrs.  Carlyle — 
Meets  Elihu  Burritt— S.  T.  Coleridge— At  British  Museum— Pro- 
fessor Owen — Visit  to  Flaxman's  studio — Henry  Hallam — Louis 
Blanc  and  Carlyle — Tennyson — Clara.  Balfour's  Lectures — Alex- 
ander Scott 254 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
1850. 

George  Dawson — His  Lecture — Dr.  Caspary — Account  of  Humboldt 
— Clara  Balfour — Lord  Byron  and  Mary  Chaworth — Laundry 
School  specimen — Mezzofanti — General  Heynau — Carclew — Pro- 
fessor Playfair 281 

CHAPTER    XVII. 
1851. 

Abbey  Lodge — Chevalier  Neukomm — Captain  Barclay  of  Ury — John 
Bright — Wordsworth — Story  of  F.  Cunningham — Ragged  School 
Meeting — Dr.  Gumming — Meets  Kestner — Dr.  Pauli — Evening  at 
Baron  Bunsen's — F.  D.  Maurice  at  St.  Martin's  Hall — Thackeray's 
Lecture — Faraday  on  "  Ozone" — Macready — Paris  troubles — Story 
of  Sir  John  Franklin •  .  .  285 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
1852. 

PAGE 

Letters  to  E.  T.  Carne — Dublin — Laying  foundation-stone  of  Pro- 
fessor Lloyd's  new  home — Chevalier  Neukomm — Talleyrand — Visit 
to  Lord  Rosse — Account  of  his  telescopes — Sir  David  Brewster — • 
Anecdote  of  Lord  Rosse — General  Sabine — British  Association 
Meeting  at  Belfast — Discussion  on  the  search  for  Franklin — Fal- 
mouth — Letters — Elihu  Burritt 294 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

1853- 

Letters — Story  of  Humboldt — Mazzini — Attacked  by  a  bull — Account 
of  Emperor  Napoleon  and  Deputation  of  London  Merchants — Dr. 
Gumming — Dr.  Binney — Kossuth  and  Douglas  Jerrold — Courtney 
Boyle — Death  of  Amelia  Opie  .......  307 

CHAPTER    XX. 
1854. 

Meets  Charles  Kingsley — Deputation  to  the  Czar — Letter  to  E.  T. 
Carne — Death  of  Talfourd — Madame  de  Wette — Story  of  her  hus- 
band— Dean  Milman — His  opinion  of  S.  T.  Coleridge — Letters — 
"  Te  Deum,"  by  R.  Barclay  Fox  .......  317 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

1855- 

Letters  to  E.  T.  Carne — News  of  Barclay  Fox  at  the  Pyramids — 


Letters — His  death 


-     -  »        -        •         •         •         -324 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

1856.  * 


Sir  Charles  Lemon — Lord  Macaulay — Stories  of  the  Cholera — Martin 
F.  Tupper  at  Bury  Hill — Letters — Death  of  Mrs.  Schimmelpen- 
ninck — Gavazzi  . 


330 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

1857- 
PAGE 

George  Smith — Ernest  de  Bunsen  at  Penjerrick — Professor  Nichol — 
His  Lecture — Florence  Nightingale — Dublin — British  Association 
Meeting — Paper  read  by  R.  W.  Fox — Story  of  Lord  Carlyle — 
Dr.  Earth— De  1'Abbadie — Dr.  Livingstone — At  the  Vice-Regal 
Lodge — Falmouth — Mendelssohn — Dr.  Arnold  and  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland 334 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 
1858. 

On  Buckle's  work — News  of  the  Carlyles — Kingsley — Ary  Scheffer 
— Thomas  Cooper's  Lecture .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  341 

CHAPTER    XXV. 
1859. 

Penjerrick — Meets  Dr.  Whewell  at  Carclew — His  conversation — 
Tidings  of  Sir  John  Franklin's  death — Letters  ....  344 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 
1860. 

Ary  Scheffer — Visit  from  Tennyson — Francis  Palgrave — Their  con- 
versation— Holman  Hunt  at  Falmouth — Val  Prinsep — Miss  Ma- 
caulay — Robertson — Lord  Macaulay — Death  of  Bunsen  .  .  349 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 
1861-71. 

Meets  John  Bright — Letters — Buckle — Duke  of  Montpensier  at  Fal- 
mouth— Charles  Kean — Meets  Garibaldi — Visits  Professor  Adams 
at  Cambridge — Popular  Fallacies — Illness — Mentone — Visits  Car- 
lyle— His  talk — Lady  Ashburton — Her  care  of  Carlyle — End  of 
Journals 354 


MEMOIR. 


MEMOIR. 


"  Speak  of  me  as  I  am,  nothing  extenuate, 
Nor  set  down  aught  in  malice." — SHAKESPEARE. 

THE  Journals  and  Letters"  from  which  the  following  ex- 
tracts have  been  chosen  were  written  by  Caroline  Fox,  of  Pen- 
jerrick,  between  the  years  1835  an(^  1871.' 

They  speak  so  clearly  for  themselves  that  but  few  words  of 
introduction  or. explanation  are  needed. 

The  editor's  task  has  been  rendered  a  pleasant  one  by  the 
help  and  sympathy  of  those  members  of  Caroline -Fox's  family 
who  survive  her  and  keep  her  memory  green.  Inasmuch  as 
this  book  will  probably  reach  the  hands  of  many  to  whom  the 
family  history  will  be  a  terra  incognita,  it  becomes  necessary 
that  the  few  following  pages  of  prefatory  memoir  should  ac- 
company her  own  "winged  words."  On  the  24th  of  May, 
1819,  the  girl-child  of  whom  we  write  was  born,  at  Falmouth, 
into  this  tough  world.  She  was  one  of  the  three  children  of 
distinguished  parents, — distinguished  not  only  by  their  fine 
old  Quaker  lineage,  but  by  the  many  beautiful  qualities  which 
belong  to  large  hearts  and  minds.  Her  father,  Robert  Were 
Fox,  was  the  eldest  of  that  remarkable  family  of  brothers  and 
sisters  whose  forebears  made  Cornwall  their  resting-place  two 
hundred  years  ago.  The  brothers  would  have  made  a  notice- 
able group  in  any  country,  and  were  not  less  conspicuous  from 
their  public  spirit  and  philanthropy  than  from  their  scientific 
acumen  and  attainments,  their  geniality,  and  the  simplicity 
and  modesty  of  their  lives.  They  created  a  cluster  of  lovely 


xvi  MEA1OIR. 

dwellings  in  and  about  Falmouth,  which  attract  the  traveller 
by  their  picturesque  beauty  and  southern  wealth  of  flower  and 
tree.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  these  sheltered  Cornish 
homes  is  Penjerrick,  some  three  miles  from  that  town,  the 
summer  residence  and  one  of  the  dearly-loved  homes  of  Caro- 
line Fox  and  her  parents. 

It  was  by  experiments  and  observations  during  a  period  of 
more  than  forty  years  that  her  father,  Robert  Were  Fox, 
proved  the  increase  of  temperature  in  descending  mines,  con- 
verting Humboldt,  a  former  antagonist,  to  his  view.  He  was 
also  the  inventor  of  the  "  Deflector  Dipping  Needle,"  which 
has  since  been  used  in  all  the  Arctic  Expeditions. 

Upon  his  death  in  1877,  Sir  Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Royal  Society,  said  in  his  annual  address  that  the 
Society  had  experienced  a  severe  loss  in  "  Mr.  Fox,  eminent 
for  his  researches  on  the  temperature,  and  the  magnetic  and 
electrical  condition  of  the  interior  of  the  earth,  especially  in 
connection  with  the  formation  of  mineral  veins,  and  who  was 
further  the  inventor  of  some,  and  the  improver  of  other  in- 
struments, now  everywhere  employed  in  ascertaining  the 
properties  of  terrestrial  magnetism." 

In  a  very  excellent  sketch  of  his  life  and  work  by  Mr.  J. 
H.  Collins,  F.G.S.,  published  at  Truro  in  1878,  these  inven- 
tions and  improvements  extend  into  a  pamphlet  of  nearly 
sixty  octavo  pages.  To  this  valuable  little  book  we  should 
refer  those  who  care  to  follow  into  greater  detail  the  life-work 
of  this  excellent  simple-hearted  philosopher. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Mrs.  Schim- 
melpenninck  in  1824  gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  house- 
hold as  it  then  appeared:  "Having  spoken  of  the  house,  I 
must  now  describe  its  inhabitants.  Imagine  Robert  Fox, 
whom  you  knew  as  a  lad,  now  a  steadfast  and  established 
man  ;  the  wise  but  determined  and  energetic  regulator  of  his 
own,  and  the  prop  and  firm  support  of  his  mother's  large 
family.  Picture  to  yourself  his  forehead,  and  the  sides  of  his 
head  with  what  Spurzheim  used  to  call  '  perpendicular  walls 
of  reason  and  truth.'  Patient  investigation,  profound  reflec- 


MEMOIR.  xv  ii 

tion,  and  steadfast  determination  sit  upon  his  thinking  and 
bent  btow.  Generous  and  glowing  feeling  often  kindles  his 
deep-set  eyes,  whilst  the  firm  closing  of  his  mouth,  the  square 
bone  of  the  chin,  and  the  muscular  activity  and  strong  form, 
show  that  it  is  continually  compressed  within  by  the  energy 
of  a  self-governing  character.  Truth  and  honor  unshaken, 
conscience  unsullied,  cool  investigating  reason  and  irresistible 
force,  seem  to  follow  the  outlines  of  his  very  remarkable  char- 
acter. Maria  is  widely  different.  She  has  not  the  scientific 
tastes  that  distinguish  her  husband,  but  her  heart  and  affec- 
tions, her  least  actions  and  her  very  looks,  are  so  imbued 
and  steeped  in  the  living  waters  of  Divine  Truth,  that  she 
seems  to  have  come  to  the  perfection  of  heavenly  wisdom, 
which  makes  her  conversation  a  rich  feast  and  a  blessed  in- 
struction. 

"  She  is  a  super-eminently  excellent  mother,  always  keeping 
a  tender  watch  over  her  children  without  showing  anxious 
care.  On  our  arrival,  the  three  little  well-ordered  children 
withdrew  to  their  play  on  the  veranda,  and  whilst  she  con- 
versed cheerfully  and  cordially  with  us,  still  surrounded  by 
their  books  and  pictures,  her  watchful  eye  was  constantly  upon 
them. 

"  In  the  early  morning  I  used  to  watch  her  going  with  them 
to  the  beach,  with  a  mule  to  carry  the  weary  ones ;  and  they 
bathed  in  the  midst  of  the  rocks  and  caves,  with  no  spectators 
but  the  shags  and  the  sea-gulls.  •  It  was  pleasant  to  me,  as  I 
was  dressing,  to  watch  them  coming  back,  winding  along  the 
cliffs ;  and,  as  they  drew  near,  Maria,  seated  on  her  mule, 
with  little  Carry  in  her  arms,  Anna  Maria  by  her  side,  and 
the  others  surrounding  her,  repeating  their  hymns  and  psalms, 
they  used  to  look  like  Raphael's  picture  of  the  Holy  Family 
in  the  flight  .to  Egypt.  Maria's  maternal  countenance  on 
these  occasions  I  shall  never  forget ;  nor  the  sweet  and  tender 
emotion  of  her  children.  Little  Carry  especially  used  to 
enjoy  the  ride.  '  Oh,  mamma  !'  said  she  one  day,  '  do  let  me 
say  my  hymn  louder,  for  the  poor  mule  is  listening  and  can- 
not hear  me.'  Their  return  I  used  soon  to  know  by  Carry  or 


xviii  MEMOIR. 

Barclay  besetting  me  the  moment  I  opened  my  door,  to  tell 
them  stories  of  wild  beasts."* 

Caroline  was  born  and  continued  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  in  which  body  her  family  have  always  occupied  a 
foremost  position  ;  and  she  exemplified  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree those  charming  qualities  of  simple  purity,  love  of  learn- 
ing, and  utter  regard  for  truth,  which  are  some  of  the  more 
strongly-marked  features  of  that  community. 

Her  parents  were  accustomed  to  pass  the  winter  months  at 
their  house  in  Falmouth,  where  so  many  notable  friends 
visited  them,  moving  to  Penjerrick  for  the  summer,  to  revel 
in  the  perfect  repose  of  their  country  life. 

As  a  child  Caroline  drew  much  attention  by  her  winning 
ways  and  signs- of  an  intelligence  far  above  the  usual  order, 
and  Mrs.  Schimmelpenninck  again  says  in  another  letter, 
"  Caroline  is  quick,  bright,  and  susceptible,  with  little  black 
laughing  eyes,  a  merry  round  face,  and  as  full  of  tricks  and 
pranks  as  a  marmoset  or  Shakespeare's  Robin  Goodfellow." 

She  was  of  a  somewhat  delicate  constitution,  and  conse- 
quently*was  never  called  upon  to  face  the  often  severe  phys- 
ical strain  of  a  school  education  ;  but  in  her  mother's  hands, 
and  aided  by  the  best  masters  obtainable,  she  made  a  progress 
with  which  few  schools  of  that  day  could  have  successfully 
competed.  She  always  found  pleasure  in  study  under  those 
masters  who  suited  her  fastidious  taste,  and  soon  learned  to  dis- 
criminate between  those  under  whose  guidance  she  made  real 
progress,  and  those  who  were  not  so  successful  in  their 
endeavors.  But  the  best  part  of  her  education  was  gained 
after  the  school -room  door  was  closed  and  when  she  was  mis- 
tress of  her  own  time. 

Many  and  varied  were  the  subjects  taken  up,  and  the  books 
she  read.  All  that  was  good  in  them  she  made  her  own,  her 
fine  nature  rejecting  everything  else.  In  particular,  the  works 
of  Coleridge  exercised  upon  her  a  peculiar  fascination,  and 


*  A  portion  of  this  letter  appears  in  the  Life  of  M.  A.  Schimmelpenninck, 
edited  by  C.  C.  Hankin.     Longmans.     1858. 


MEMOIR.  xix 

stimulated  her  mind  to  greater  efforts  of  thought.  And  it  was 
remarked  with  what  apparent  ease  she  grasped  the  principles 
and  details  of  the  most  abstruse  subjects,  as  well  as  the  general 
topics  of  interest. 

Upon  such  a  receptive  nature  the  association  with  her 
father's  friends  exercised  the  utmost  fascination,  and  how 
thoroughly  she  appreciated  and  comprehended  their  conver- 
sation is  shown  in  the  many  lucid  notes  in  her  Journals,  in 
which  she  so  well  embodied  these  flying  thoughts  of  varied 
minds.  And  it  makes  a  tender  and  striking  picture, — this 
young  girl,  with  her  deep  reverence  and  vivid  appreciation  of 
all  the  magic  world  of  thought  in  which  she  was  permitted  to 
roam,  listening  with  delight  to  the  utterances  of  wise  men, 
and  storing  up  their  words  in  her  heart.  She  would  say  with 
Steele,  "If  I  were  to  choose  the  people  with  whom  I  would 
spend  my  hours  of  conversation,  they  should  be  certainly 
such  as  labored  to  make  themselves  readily  and  clearly  appre- 
hended, and  would  have  patience  and  curiosity  to  understand 
me.  When  thoughts  rise  in  us  fit  to  utter  among  familiar 
friends,  there  needs  but  very  little  care  in  clothing  them." 

Every  two  years  she  visited  London,  the  journey  then  con- 
suming some  three  days, — days  filled  with  all  the  fun  and 
excitement  of  a  pleasant  holiday.  In  1840  commenced  her 
friendship  with  the  Mills  and  the  Sterlings,  much  deeply  in- 
teresting record  of  which  will  be  found  in  her  Diaries ;  and  it 
was  a  bitter  parting  when,  in  1843,  a  sudden  blow  came  in 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Sterling,  followed  by  the  removal  "of  the 
bereaved  family  to  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

Her  only  brother,  Robert  Barclay  Fox  (who  married  Jane 
Gurney,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Backhouse,  of  Darlington), 
and  her  sister  Anna  Maria,  were  her  usual  companions  in  her 
travels,  as  will  be  gathered  by  her  frequent  reference  to  one 
or  the  other. 

In  reading  these  Journals  it  is  worthy  of  notice  how  rapidly 
Caroline  Fox's  character  forms  itself;  attracting,  reflecting, 
and  assimilating  from  the  stronger  natures  around  her  all  that 
is  noteworthy,  high-toned,  and  deep-souled.  The  bright 


xx  MEMOIR. 

gayety  of  the  high-spirited  girl  is  rapidly  succeeded  by  the 
philosophic  mind  belonging  to  greater  knowledge  and  maturer 
years;  whilst  the  quickly-recurring  losses  of  dear  friends  and 
old  companions  visibly  deepens  and  broadens  the  stream  of 
her  daily  life,  until,  culminating  in  the  going-hence  of  her 
only  brother,  she  so  pathetically  cries,  "  For  whom  should  I 
now  record  these  entries  of  my  life?"  and  then  the  gravity 
of  existence  permanently  settles  upon  her,  with  a  not  unwel- 
come foreboding  that  her  time  is  short,  and  her  day  is  far 
spent. 

If  we  may  say  anything  of  her  spiritual  life,  it  seemed  to 
those  who  knew  her  best  that  the  intense  reality  of  her  faith 
gave  a  joyousness  to  her  bright  days,  and  sustained  her 
through  dark  and  perplexed  times.  Her  quiet  trust  con- 
quered all  the  doubts  and  conflicts  which  hung  over  her  early 
years,  and  her  submission  to  a  higher  will  became  ever  more 
and  more  confident  and  satisfying, — nay,  one  may  dare  to  say, 
more  triumphant. 

Her  active  sympathies  with  the  poor  and  the  sick  were 
powerfully  awakened  under  its  benign  influence ;  and  the 
struggle  for  "more  light"  through  which  this  beautiful  soul 
was  passing  cannot  be  more  forcibly  set  forth  than  in  her 
own  words,  which  were  found  in  her  desk  after  her  death,  but 
which  were  written  when  she  was  but  one-and-twenty  years 
of  age  : 

"July  14,  1841. — As  I  think  it  may  be  a  profitable  employ- 
ment, and,  at  some  future  time  when  faith  is  at  a  low  ebb, 
may  recall  with  greater  distinctness  the  struggle  through  which 
a  spark  of  true  faith  was  lighted  in  my  soul,  I  will  attempt  to 
make  some  notes  of  the  condition  of  my  mind  in  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1840. 

"  I  felt  I  had  hitherto  been  taking  things  of  the  highest 
importance  too  much  for  granted,  without  feeling  their 
reality ;  and  this  I  knew  to  be  a  very  unhealthy  state  of 
things.  This  consciousness  was  mainly  awakened  by  a  few 
solemn  words  spoken  by  Dr.  Calvert  on  the  worthlessness  of  a 
merely  traditional  faith  in  highest  truths.  The  more  I  exam- 


MEMOIR.  xxi 

ined  into  my  reasons  for  believing  some  of  our  leading  doc- 
trines, the  more  was  I  staggered  and  rilled  with  anxious 
thought.  I  very  earnestly  desired  to  be  taught  the  truth,  at 
whatever  price  I  might  learn  it. 

"  Carlyle  admirably  expresses  my  state  of  mind  when  he 
speaks  '  of  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  some  to  believe  that  they 
believe.'  But  it  would  not  do  ;  I  felt  I  was  playing  a  dishonest 
part  with  myself,  and  with  my  God.  I  fully  believed  in  Christ 
as  a  Mediator  and  Exemplar,  but  I  could  not  bring  my  reason 
to  accept  Him  as  a  Saviour  and  Redeemer.  What  kept  me 
at  this  time  from  being  a  Unitarian  was  that  I  retained  a  per- 
fect conviction  that  though  /  could  not  see  into  the  truth  of 
the  doctrine,  it  was  nevertheless  true  ;  and  that  if  I  continued 
earnestly  and  sincerely  to  struggle  after  it,  by  prayer,  reading, 
and  meditation,  I  should  one  day  be  permitted  to  know  it 
for  myself.  A  remark  that  Render  Molesworth  one  day  in- 
cidentally made  to  me  was  often  a  gleam  of  comfort  to  me 
during  this  time  of  distress  and  warfare.  He  said  that  he 
thought  '  a  want  of  faith  was  sometimes  permitted  to  those  who 
would  otherwise  have  no  trials ;  for  you  know,'  he  added, 
'  a  want  of  faith  is  a  very  great  trial.'  I  did  not  tell  him  how 
truly  he  had  spoken. 

"The  first  gleam  of  light,  'the  first  cold  light  of  morn- 
ing' which  gave  promise  of  day  with  its  noontide  glories, 
dawned  on  me  one  day  at  meeting,  when  I  had  been  medi- 
tating on  my  state  in  great  depression.  I  seemed  to  hear  the 
words  articulated  in  my  spirit,  '  Live  up  to  the  light  thou 
hast;  and  more  will  be  granted  thee.'  Then  I  believed  that 
God  speaks  to  man  by  His  Spirit.  I  strove  to  live  a  more 
Christian  life,  in  unison  with  what  I  knew  to  be  right,  and 
looked  for  brighter  days  ;  not  forgetting  the  blessings  that  are 
granted  to  prayer. 

"The  next  epoch  in  my  spiritual  life  was  an  exposition  of 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  which  John  Stevenson  was 
enabled  to  give,  and  I  was  permitted  to  receive.  He  com- 
mented on  our  utter  inability  to  fulfil  the  law,  and  the  certain 
penalty  of  death  we  had  thereby  incurred.  We  no  longer 


xxii  MEMOIR. 

confided  in  the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  to 
take  away  sin :  on  what  then  could  we  build  any  hope  of 
escape  from  the  eternal  wrath  of  God  ?  When  brought  to 
this  point  of  true  anxiety  about  our  salvation,  our  eyes  are 
mercifully  opened  to  see  the  Saviour  offering  Himself  as  the 
one  eternal  sacrifice  for  sin  ;  requiring,  as  the  terms  of  our 
redemption,  that  the  faith  which  had  been  experienced  in  the 
old  Jewish  sacrifices  should  be  transferred  to  and  centred  in 
Himself.  Thus  the  law  was  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to 
Christ,  to  teach  us  faith  in  a  sacrifice,  the  fulness  of  whose 
meaning  Christ  alone  could  exhibit.  I  was  much  interested  in 
this  at  the  time,  but  it  had  not  its  full  effect  till  some  days  after. 
"I  was  walking  sorrowfully  and  thoughtfully  to  Penrose, 
and  in  my  way  back  the  description  of  Teufelsdrockh's  tri- 
umph over  fear  came  forcibly  and  vividly  -before  me.  Why 
(I  said  to  myself)  should  I  thus  help  to  swell  the  triumph  of 
the  infernal  powers  by  tampering  with  their  miserable  sugges- 
tions of  unbelief,  and  neglecting  the  amazing  gift  which 
Christ  has  so  long  been  offering  me  ?  I  know  that  He  is  the 
Redeemer  of  all  such  as  believe  in  Him  ;  and  I  will  believe, 
and  look  for  His  support  in  the  contest  with  unbelief.  My 
doubts  and  difficulties  immediately  became  shadowy,  and  my 
mind  was  full  of  happy  anticipations  of  speedy  and  complete 
deliverance  from  them.  The  next  morning,  as  I  was  employed 
in  making  some  notes  of  John  Stevenson's  comments  (before 
alluded  to)  in  my  journal,  the  truth  came  before  me  with  a 
clearness  and  consistency  and  brightness  indescribably  de- 
lightful ;  the  reasonableness  of  some  Christian  doctrines  which 
had  before  especially  perplexed  me,  shone  now  as  clear  as 
noonday;  and  the  thankfulness  I  felt  for  the  blessed  light 
that  was  granted  was  intense.  I  was  able  throughout  to  recog- 
nize the  workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  my  heart,  for  I  had 
often  before  read  and  listened  to  arguments  equally  conclu- 
sive, and  indeed  sometimes  identical,  with  those  which  were 
now  addressed  with  such  evidence  to  my  heart ;  but  only  this 
was  the  time  appointed  for  their  due  influence. 


MEMOIR.  xxiii 

"I  by  no  means  regret  the  perplexities  and  doubts  and 
troubles  through  which  I  have  passed.  They  have  increased 
my  toleration  for  others,  and  given  me  a  much  higher  value 
and  deeper  affection  for  those  glorious  truths  which  make  up 
the  Christian's  hope,  than  I  could  have  had  if  they  had  only 
been  passively  imbibed.  The  hard  struggle  I  have  had  to 
make  them  my  own  must  rise  in  my  memory  to  check  future 
faithlessness ;  and  the  certain  conviction  that  the  degree  of 
faith  which  has  been  granted  was  purely  a  gift  from  above, 
leads  me  with  earnestness  and  faith  to  petition  for  myself  and 
others,  'Lord,  increase  our  faith.'  ' 

And  some  years  after  she  writes  : 

"April  13,  1855. — And  now"  I  must  add  a  later  conviction, 
namely,  that  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  not  under- 
taken to  appease  the  wrath  of  God,  but  rather  to  express  His 
infinite  love  to  His  creatures,  and  thus  to  reconcile  them  unto 
Himself.  Every  species  of  sacrifice  meets,  and  is  glorified, 
in  Him;  and  He  claims  from  His  children,  as  the  proof  of 
their  loyalty  and  love,  that  perfect  subjection  of  their  own 
wills  to  His,  of  which  self-sacrifice  He  is  the  Eternal  Pattern, 
and  bestows  the  will  and  the  power  to  be  guided  only  by 
Himself." 

In  the  years  1844  and  1845  came  a  time  of  great  sorrow, 
and  a  considerable  blank  occurs  in  the  Journals  of  these  and 
some  of  the  succeeding  years ;  what  she  wrote  at  this  time 
containing,  save  so  far  as  is  extracted,  nothing  but  a  most 
sacred  record  of  great  personal  suffering  and  inward  struggle. 
Hers  was  a  nature  to  come  out  of  sorrow,  be  it  ever  so  deep 
or  bitter,  strengthened  and  ennobled  by  the  lesson,  and  striv- 
ing still  more  earnestly  for  the  victory  over  self;  and  we  find 
her  Swiss  travels  in  1846  with  her  family,  her  brother  and  his 
wife,  marked  with  the  old  power  of  observation  and  graphic 
force  of  expression,  recording,  as  before,  all  that  seemed 
worthy  of  remark  in  the  daily  round  of  her  resumed  life. 

In  1848  she  broke  a  blood-vessel,  and  a  long  convalescence 
ensued.  Her  almost  miraculous  preservation  when  pursued 
by  a  bull  in  1853,  when  she  lay  insensible  on  the  ground,  the 


xxiv  MEMOIR. 

fierce  animal  roaring  round  but  never  touching  her,  evoked 
from  her  brother  Barclay  the  following  lines: 

"  Bow  the  head  and  bend  the  knee, 
Oh  give  thanks,  how  fervently, 

For  a  darling  sister's  breath  ; 
Back  my  very  blood  doth  shrink, 
God  of  mercies  !  when  I  think 
How  she  lay  upon  the  brink 
Of  an  agonizing  death  ! 

"  While  the  darkness  gathers  o'er  me, 
Clear  the  picture  lives  before  me  ; 

There  the  monster  in  his  wrath, 
And  his  lovely  victim  lying, 
Praying  inly — as  the  dying 
Only  pray, — I  see  her  lying 

Helplessly  across  his  path. 

"  Oh  the  horror  of  that  scene, 
Oh  the  sight  that  might  have  been 
Had  no  angel  stepped  between 

The  destroyer  and  his  prey  ; 
Had  not  God,  who  hears  our  cry, 
'  Save  me,  Father,  or  I  die  !' 
Sent  His  angel  from  on  high 

To  save  our  precious  one  this  day. 

"  Gently  came  unconsciousness, 
»  All-enfolding  like  a  dress  ; 

Hushed  she  lay,  and  motionless, 

Freed  from  sense  and  saved  from  fear ; 
All  without  was  but  a  dream, 
Only  the  pearl  gates  did  seem 
Very  real  and  very  near. 

"  For  the  life  to  us  restored, 
Not  we  only  thank  thee,  Lord ; 

Oh  what  deep  hosannas  rise 
From  the  many  she  hath  blest, 
From  the  poor  and  the  distrest ! 
Oh,  the  gratitude  exprest 

By  throbbing  hearts  and  moistened  eyes ! 

"  So  living  was  her  sympathy, 
That  they  dream'd  not  she  could  die, 
Till  the  Shadow  swept  so  nigh, 

Startling  with  an  unknown  fear. 


MEMOIR.  xxv 

Thus  the  day's  untainted  light 
Blesseth  all  and  maketh  bright; 
But  its  work  we  know  not  quite, 

Till  the  darkness  makes  it  clear.". 

When  her  brother  left  England  for  his  health  in  1854, 
Caroline  accompanied  him  to  Southampton,  and  there  bade 
him  a  last  farewell.  He  died  near  Cairo  in  the  following 
March,  and  lies  in  the  English  cemetery  of  that  city. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Caroline 
upon  the  subject,  is  perhaps  better  placed  here  than  in  its 
order  of  date  in  the  book.  It  is  addressed  to  her  cousin, 
Juliet  Backhouse,  and  says,  "We  have  agreed  that  his  dear 
name  shall  never  be  banished  from  our  midst,  where  he  feels 
to  us  more  vitally  and  influentially  present  than  ever;  he 
shall  not  be  banished  even  to  Heaven.  Oh  what  it  is  to 
have  had  such  a  memory  to  leave  to  those  who  love  you  ! 
Almost  nothing  to  forget,  everything  to  remember  with  thank- 
fulness and  love.  Surely  memory  will  be  carried  on  into  the 
future,  and  make  that  bright  too  with  his  own  dear  presence ; 
or  is  it  not,  will  it  not  be,  even  more  than  memory?  This 
may  be  all  fancy,  and  very  foolish,  but  I  cannot  feel  him  far 
away,  and  the  thought  of  him  does  not  sadden  me.  It  is 
stimulating,  elevating,  encouraging,  the  sense  that  one  of  our- 
selves is  safely  landed,  all  the  toil  and  battle  over,  the  end  of 
the  race  attained,  and  God  glorified  in  his  salvation.  Oh,  it 
is  all  so  wonderful,  so  blessed,  that  I  have  no  time  left  for 
mourning.  I  could  not  have  conceived  the  sting  of  death  so 
utterly  removed,  not  only  for  him,  but  for  us.  The  same 
'  canopy  of  love'  is  surely  over  us  both,  and  we  can  but  feel 
that  it  will  take  a  long  lifetime  to  thank  our  God  and  Saviour 
for  the  beautiful  mercies  which  have  glorified  the  whole  trial, 
and  which  must  always  make  it  a  most  holy  thing.  He  has 
himself  been  so  evidently,  though  unconsciously,  preparing  us 
for  it;  telling  us  of  his  own  child-like  confidence,  and  com- 
mitting his  nearest  and  dearest  to  the  same  Fatherly  care,  in 
lovely  words,  which  often  thrilled  us  at  the  time,  but  are,  how 
precious,  now." 

c 


xxvi  MEMOIR. 

In  1858  she  lost  her  mother,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Robert 
Barclay  of  Bury  Hill.  Caroline  passed  the  following  spring, 
with  her  father  and  sister,  chiefly  in  Rome  and  Naples. 
The  death  of  her  brother's  widow  at  Pau,  in  1860,  brought 
with  its  deep  sense  of  loss  a  kindly  compensation,  as  her  four 
orphaned  boys  came  to  live  at  Penjerrick  and  Grove  Hill, 
which  were  henceforward  to  be  their  homes,  whilst  the  little 
daughter  Jane  found  that  wealth  of  parents'  love  she  had 
lost  so  soon,  renewed  in  all  its  fulness  in  the  hearts  of  her 
uncle  and  aunt,  Edmund  and  Juliet  Backhouse.  The  en- 
suing years  were  now  filled  with  a  new  interest  to  Caroline 
Fox,  who  watched  with  untiring  care  the  development  of  her 
young  nephews,  entering  with  zest  into  many  of  their  interests. 

In  1863  a  journey  to  Spain  was  undertaken  with  her  father, 
who  had  been  chosen  as,  one  of  the  deputies  to  plead  for  the 
freedom  of  Matamoros.  Then  came  warnings  of  serious  phys- 
ical weakness,  and  the  usual  weary  search  for  health  was  un- 
dertaken, when  the  Riviera  and  other  places  were  visited  with 
but  varying  success.  She  was  in  Venice  in  1866,  and  was 
sufficiently  restored  to  see  the  Paris  Exhibition  held  in  that 
year,  but  each  winter  found  her  less  able  to  cope  with  its 
severities.  Her  cheerfulness  and  interest  in  all  around  never 
abated,  and  her  Journals  still  marked  the  daily  events  of  her 
life.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  it  must  not  be  thought  that 
she  was  a  constant  invalid.  She  was  subject  to  wearisome 
attacks  of  chronic  bronchitis,  and  rallied  wonderfully  between 
them.  During  the  Christmas  of  1870,  when  the  snow  lay  on 
the  ground,  with  sunshine  and  blue  skies  overhead,  she  looked 
blooming,  and  walked  frequently  a  mile  or  two  to  the  cottages 
around :  but  when  the  thaw  set  in,  he'r  friends  trembled  for 
her ;  the  damp,  chilly  air  never  suited  her,  and  it  was  a  cause 
of  distress  to  be  cut  off  from  her  out-of-doors  objects  of  in- 
terest. She  took  cold  when  going  her  rounds  with  New  Year's 
gifts,  and  it  quickly  turned  to  a  more  severe  attack  of  bron- 
chitis than  her  lessening  strength  could  struggle  through ;  and 
although  the  sense  of  illness  seemed  lifted  off,  the  old  rallying 
power  was  gone. 


MEMOIR.  xxvii 

This  year  was  to  be,  in  truth,  a  new  one  for  her ;  and  freed 
from  every  pang,  nor  called  upon  to  say  that  awful  word, 
"Farewell,"  she  entered  into  her  New  Life  during  sleep  in 
the  early  morning  of  the  i2th  January,  1871. 

To  her  bereaved  father  the  following  words,  written  by  his 
child  when  she  was  rich  in  the  presence  of  both  parents,  were 
inexpressibly  helpful  and  soothing,  "  My  precious  father  and 
mother  must  keep  whatever  of  mine  they  may  like  to  have. 
It  is  vain  to  attempt  to  thank  them  for  all  they  have  done  for 
me.  I  have  often,  very  often,  been  most  provoking  and  irre- 
sponsive to  their  loving  kindness,  but  in  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  not,  I  trust,  ungrateful.  Farewell,  darlings  all.  If  you 
can  forgive  and  love  me,  remember  with  comfort  that  our  God 
and  Saviour  is  even  more  loving,  more  forgiving,  than  you 
are,  and  think  of  me  with  peace  and  trustfulness  and  thanks- 
giving, as  one  whom  He  has  graciously  taught,  mainly  through 
sorrows,  to  trust  and  to  love  Him  utterly,  and  to  grieve  only 
over  the  ingratitude  of  my  sins,  the  sense  of  which  is  but 
deepened  by  His  free  forgiveness." 

Ten  years  have  passed  since  that  parting  day,  and  her 
memory  is  still  fondly  cherished.  To  some  of  her  dear  ones 
the  Journals  have  been  shown,  but  it  is  only  in  the  last  few 
months  that  her  sister  has  consented  to  allow  a  larger  circle 
to  share  in  the  perusal. 

Caroline  Fox  was  unusually  rich  in  her  friendships,  and  she 
had  the  power  of  graphically  sketching  scenes  and  conversa- 
tions. It  is  hoped  that  nothing  will  be  found  in  these  pages 
which  should  seem  like  drawing  aside  the  curtains  that  ought 
to  be  left  covering  the  inner  life  of  all.  Her  criticisms, 
though  often  bright,  sharp,  and  humorous,  are  never  poisoned 
or  cruel ;  and  the  friends  who  survive  will  not  apprehend  with 
dread  the  opportunities  which  her  MSS.  have  given  for 
stamping  her  impressions  like  "  footprints  on  the  sands  of 
time." 

The  English  world  of  thought  to-day  owes  much  to  men 
whom  Caroline  Fox  called  friends,  and  words  they  uttered 
are  not  without  present  significance.  Moreover,  these  records 


xxviii  MEMOIR. 

of  so  many  years  past,  appearing  now,  interest  us  the  more, 
because  we  can  compare  the  thoughts,  the  wishes,  the  proph- 
ecies of  these  men  with  much  that  has  since  resulted  from 
their  teaching.  The  present  generation  is  eager  enough  to 
con  even  passing  expressions  from  Mill,  Carlyle,  Bunsen,  and 
other  members  of  that  charmed  circle;  and  "  human  por- 
traits, faithfully  drawn,"  as  Carlyle  says,  "are  of  all  pictures 
the  welcomest  on  human  walls." 

And  so  we  launch  this  little  boat  into  the  ocean,  with  some 
confidence  that  it  will  make  its  way  to  shores  where  its  freight 
of  goodly  "  Memories,"  preserved  for  us  by  a  keen  intellect 
and  warm  heart,  will  be  welcomed  as  a  record  of  many  who 
have  passed  "to  where  beyond  these  voices  there  is  peace." 


MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
1835. 

"  Home  is  the  resort 

Of  love,  of  joy,  of  peace  and  plenty,  where, 
Supporting  and  supported,  polish'd  friends 
And  dear  relations  mingle  into  bliss." — THOMSON. 

Falmottth,  March  19. — Davies  Gilbert*  and  others  dined 
here.  He  was  full  of  anecdote  and  interest,  as  usual.  One 
on  the  definition  of  "  treade"  was  good.  It  is  really  de- 
rived from  "  trad"  (Saxon),  a  thing.  When  he  was  on  the 
bench,  a  man  was  brought  before  one  of  the  judges  on  some 
poisoning  charge,  and  the  examination  of  a  witness  proceeded 
thus:  Q.  "  Did  you  see  anything  in  the  loaf  ?"  A,  "Yes; 
when  I  cut  it  open,  I  found  it  full  of  traed."  Q.  "Traed  ! 
why,  what  is  that  ?"  A.  "  Oh,  it's  rope-ends,  dead  mice, 
and  other  combustibles." 

March  30. — Heard  at  breakfast  that  the  famous  Joseph 
Wolff,  the  missionary,  had  arrived  at  Falmouth.  He  gave  an 
interesting  lecture  on  the  subject  of  his  travels  in  Persia,  etc. 
He  has  encountered  many  dangers,  but  "the  Lord  has  deliv- 
ered him  out  of  them  all."  It  was  well  attended.  Lady 
Georgina  Wolff  is  at  Malta,  as  she  does  not  like  the  sea. 

*  Gilbert  (Davies),  formerly  named  Giddy,  born  1797,  educated  at  Pem- 
broke College,  Oxford.  M.  P.  successively  for  Helston  and  Bodmin,  and 
President  of  the  Royal  Society.  Celebrated  as  an  antiquary  and  writer  on 
Cornish  topography,  etc.  He  died  in  1839. 

A  II 


2  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

March  31. — At  four  o'clock  Joseph  Wolff  came  to  dinner, 
and  told  us  more  about  the  various  persons  and  places  he  has 
visited.  Of  Lady  Hester  Stanhope  he  gave  a  very  amusing 
account.  When  at  Mount  Lebanon  he  sent  a  message  with 
which  he  was  charged  to  a  lady  staying  with  her.  On  which 
Lady  Hester  sent  him  a  most  extraordinary  but  clever  letter, 
beginning,  "  How  can  you,  a  vile  apostate,  presume  to  hold 
any  intercourse  with  my  family?  Light  travels  faster  than 
sound  ;  therefore  how  can  you  think  that  your  cracked  voice 
can  precede  the  glorious  light  of  the  gospel,  which  is  event- 
ually to  shine  naturally  in  these  parts?"  He  returned  an 
appropriate  answer,  but  he  noticed  the  servant  he  had  sent 
with  it  came  back  limping,  having  been  actually  kicked  and 
beaten  by  her  ladyship  in  proprid  persona.  Many  passages 
in  the  Bible  he  cleared  up  by  observation  of  the  places  men- 
tioned. Respecting  the  prophecy  about  Babylon  "  that  owls 
shall  dwell  there  and  satyrs  shall  dance  there,"  he  said  that 
"satyrs"  should  be  translated  "worshippers  of  devils,"  and 
that  once  a  year  the  Afghans,  who  worship  little  devilish 
gods,  assemble  there  in  the  night  and  hold  their  dance. 
He  sang  us  some  beautiful  Hebrew  melodies. 

October  3. — At  breakfast  we  were  pleasantly  surprised  to 
see  Joseph  Wolff  walk  in,  without  being  announced.  He 
was  full  of  affection,  and  wanted  to  kiss  papa,  who,  retreat- 
ing, left  only  his  shoulder  within  reach,  which  accordingly 
received  a  salute.  He  joined  us  at  breakfast,  and  described 
his  late  intercourse  and  correspondence  with  Drummond  and 
many  of  the  Irvingite  party.  Their  want  of  Christian  love 
speaks  strongly  against  them,  and  their  arrogating  to  them- 
selves the  titles  of  angels,  prophets,  and  apostles  shows  a 
want  of  Christian  humility.  He  embarked  soon  afterwards 
on  his  way  to  Timbuctoo,  and  perhaps  we  shall  never  see 
him  again. 

October  15. — Papa  and  I  spent  the  evening  at  the  Der- 
went  Coleridges'  at  Helston.  It  left  a  beautiful  impression 
on  us,  and  we  visited  the  lovely  little  sleepers,  Derwent  and 
Lily,  saw  the  library,  and  the  silver  salver  presented  by  his 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3 

boys,  and,  best  of  all,  listened  to  his  reading  of  passages  from 
"  Christabel"  and  other  of  his.  father's  poems,  with  his  own 
rare  felicity.  He  talked  of  architecture  with  reference  to 
George  Wightwick's  designs  for  the  Falmouth  Polytechnic, 
and  mentioned  a  double  cube  as  the  handsomest  of  all  forms 
for  a  room.  Mary  Coleridge  was  in  all  her  beauty,  and  min- 
istered to  a  bevy  of  school-boys  at  supper  with  a  character- 
istic energy. 


CHAPTER    II. 
1836. 

"  Form'd  by  thy  converse  happily  to  steer 
From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe." — POPE. 

Falmouth,  April  7. — Sir  Charles  Lemon,  John  Enys,  and 
Henry  de  la  Beche*  came  to  luncheon.  The  last  named  is 
a  very  entertaining  person,  his  manners  rather  French,  his 
conversation  spirited  and  full  of  illustrative  anecdote.  He 
looks  about  forty,  a  handsome  but  care-worn  face,  brown 
eyes  and  hair,  and  gold  spectacles.  He  exhibited  and  ex- 
plained the  geological  maps  of  Devon'and  Cornwall,  which 
he  is  now  perfecting  for  the  Ordnance.  Accordingly  he  is 
constantly  shifting  his  residence,  that  he  may  survey  accurately 
in  these  parts. 

Papa  read  his  new  theory  of  "Veins;"  De  la  Beche  thor- 
oughly seconds  his  ideas  of  galvanic  agency,  but  will  not 
yield  the  point  of  the  fissures  being  in  constant  progression  ; 
he  says  they  were  all  antediluvian.  They  stayed  several 
hours,  and  were  particularly  charmed  with  some  experiments 
about  tin  and  galvanism. 

April  25. — Henry  de  la  Beche  and  his  daughter  Bessie  spent 
the  day  with  us,  and  we  took  a  merry  country  excursion,  the 
geological  part  of  which  was  extremely  satisfactory  to  all  par- 
ties. Bessie  is  a  bright  affectionate  girl,  devoutly  attached 
to  her  father,  with  whom  she  travels  from  place  to  place. 

*  De  la  Beche  (Sir  Henry  Thomas),  the  eminent  geologist,  born  1796,  edu- 
cated at  Great  Marlow  and  Sandhurst,  President  of  the  Geographical  Society 
in  1847.  In  1831  he  projected  the  plan  of  making  a  geological  map  of  Eng- 
land on  his  own  responsibility,  commencing  with  Cornwall;  the  result  being 
that  the  Government  instituted  the  Geological  Survey.  He  established  the 
School  of  Mines,  was  knighted  in  1848,  and  died  in  1855. 
4 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  5 

She  is  about  fifteen,  fond  of  books,  but  her  main  educa- 
tion is  in  her  father's  society.  They  are  now  stationed  at 
Redruth. 

Bristol,  August  22. — The  gentlemen  returned  from  their 
sections  of  the  British  Association  Meeting  this  morning  very 
much  gratified,  and  after  dinner  we  five  started  by  the  coach, 
and  in  the  course  of  time  arrived  at  the  large  British  Babylon. 
It  was  a  work  of  time  to  get  into  it,  most  assuredly,  and  Uncle 
Hillhouse  thought  of  taking  us  all  back  again,  in  which  case 
we  should  indeed  have  been  taken  all  aback.  Howev'er,  the 
ladies,  dear  creatures,  would  not  hear  of  that,  so  by  most  ex- 
traordinary muscular  exertions  we  succeeded  in  gaining  ad- 
mittance. We  got  fairish  seats,  but  all  the  time  the  people 
made  such  a  provoking  noise,  talking,  coming  in,  and  going 
out,  opening  and  shutting  boxes,  that  very  little  could  we 
hear.  But  we  saw  Tom  Moore  in  all  his  glory,  looking,  as 
Barclay*  said,  "  like  a  little  Cupid  with  a  quizzing-glass  in 
constant  motion."  He  seemed  as  gay  and  happy  as  a  lark, 
and  it  was  pleasant  to  spend  a  whole  evening  in  his  immediate 
presence.  There  was  a  beautiful  girl  just  before  us,  who 
was  most  obliging  in  putting  herself  into  the  most  charming 
attitudes  for  our  diversion. 

August  27. — After  dinner  to  the  play-house,  and  a  glorious 
merry  time  we  had.  The  Meeting  was  principally  employed 
in  thanksgiving,  individually  and  collectively,  Sir  W.  Ham- 
ilton giving  us  a  most  pathetic  address  on  his  gratitude  to 
Bristol  and  the  Bristolians.  Dr.  Buckland  declared  he  should 
be  worse  than  a  dog  were  he  to  forget  it.  There  was  a  re- 
markable sameness  in  these  long-winded  compliments  and 
grateful  expressions.  But  when  Tom  Moore  arose  with  a 
little  paper  in  his  little  hand,  the  theatre  was  almost  knocked 
down  with  reverberations  of  applause.  He  rose  to  thank  Mr. 
Miles  for  his  liberality  in  throwing  open  his  picture-gallery. 
He  proceeded  to  wonder  why  such  a  person  as  he  was,  a 
humble  representative  of  literature,  was  chosen  to  address 

*  Fox  (Robert  Barclay),  only  brother  of  Caroline  Fox. 
I* 


6  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

them  on  this  scientific  occasion.  He  supposed  that  in  this 
intellectual  banquet  he  was  called  for  as  one  of  the  light  dishes 
to  succeed  the  gros  morceaux  of  which  we  had  been  partaking, 
and  he  declared  Science  to  be  the  handmaid,  or  rather  the 
torch-bearer,  of  Religion. 

August  31. — We  were  returning  from  the  British  Associa- 
tion Meeting,  and  Dr.  Buckland  was  an  outside  compagnon 
de  voyage,  but  often  came  at  stopping-places  for  a  little  chat.* 
He  was  much  struck  by  the  dearth  of  trees  in  Cornwall,  and 
told  of  a  friend  of  his  who  had  made  the  off-hand  remark  that 
there  was  not  a  tree  in  the  parish,  when  a  parishioner  remon- 
strated with  him  on  belying  the  parish,  and  truly  asserted  that 
there  were  seven.  Last  evening  we  were  at  Exeter,  and  had 
an  interesting  exploration  of  the  old  cathedral  before  a  dinner, 
after  which  our  philosophers,  Dr.  Buckland,  Professor  Johns- 
ton, and  papa,  got  into  such  deep  matters  that  we  left  them 
in  despair.  Dr.  Buckland  says  he  feels  very  nervous  in  ad- 
dressing large  assemblies  till  he  has  once  made  them  laugh, 
and  then  he  is  entirely  at  ease.  He  came  on  to  the  Poly- 
technic and  stayed  with  us.  One  wet  day  he  took  his  turn 
with  three  others  in  lecturing  to  an  attentive  audience  in  our 
drawing-room  ;  we  listened  with  great  and  gaping  interest  to 
a  description  of  his  geological  map,  the  frontispiece  to  his 
forthcoming  Bridgewater  Treatise.  He  gave  very  clear  de- 
tails of  the  gradual  formation  of  our  earth,  which  he  is  thor- 
oughly convinced  took  its  rise  ages  before  the  Mosaic  record. 
He  says  that  Luther  must  have  taken  a  similar  view,  as  in  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  he  puts  "  ist"  at  the  third  verse  of 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  which  showed  his  belief  that  the 
first  two  verses  relate  to  something  anterior.  He  explains  the 
formation  of  hills  with  valleys  between  them  by  eruptions 
under  ground.  He  gave  amusing  descriptions  of  antediluvian 
animals,  plants,  and  skulls.  They  have  even  discovered  a 


*  Buckland  (William),  Dean  of  Westminster,  born  1784.  He  published 
many  well-known  works  on  geology,  and  he  died  in  1856.  He  was  the  father 
of  Frank  T.  Buckland,  the  naturalist,  who  died  in  1880. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  7 

large  fossil  fish  with  its  food  only  partially  digested.  The 
lecture  showed  wonderfully  persevering  research  and  a  great 
knowledge  of  comparative  anatomy. 

Falmouth,  September  10. — Poor  Dr.  Buckland  has  sprained 
his  leg,  and  we  are  taking  care  of  him  a  little.  He  and 
other  British  Association  friends  had  been  excursing  in  the 
west,  and  took  sundry  Cornish  pies  with  them.  Buckland 
they  treated  to  lime  and  cold  water.  He  left  us,  and  a  few 
days  afterwards  wrote  to  announce  the  happy  birth  of  a 
daughter,  and  the  request  of  his  publisher  to  print  a  further 
edition  of  five  thousand  copies  of  his  new  work.  He  also 
speaks  with  much  interest  about  A.  Crosse's  insects,  which 
the  papers  describe  his  having  observed  whilst  manipulating 
some  quartz  crystal.  They  were  little  anomalous  forms  at 
first,  but  gradually  took  the  shape  of  insects,  and  this  after  a 
lavation  in  muriatic  acid.  Dr.  Buckland  supposes  them  to 
be  fossil  ovae  of  Sorlearms  resuscitated  by  modern  scientific 
activity,  and  reasons  gravely  on  this  theory. 

September  12. — Professor  Wheatstone,  the  Davies  Gilberts, 
and  Professor  Powell  were  ushered  in,  and  joined  our  party. 
Wheatstone  was  most  interesting  at  dinner ;  he  knows  John 
Martin  intimately,  and  says  he  is  exactly  like  his  pictures, — 
all  enthusiasm  and  sublimity,  amazingly  self-opinionated,  and 
has  lately  taken  a  mechanical  turn.  He  thinks  him  a  man 
of  great  but  misdirected  genius.  He  gave  some  instances  of 
monomania,  and  mentioned  one  extraordinary  trance  case  of 
a  man  who  was  chopping  down  trees  in  a  wood,  and  lay  down 
and  slept  much  longer  than  usual ;  when  he  awoke  life  was  a 
blank ;  he  was  not  in  a  state  of  idiotcy,  but  all  his  acquired 
knowledge  was  obliterated.  He  learned  to  read  again 
quickly,  but  all  that  had  passed  previously  to  his  trance 
was  entirely  swept  away  from  his  memory.  At  the  age  of 
fifty  he  slept  again  an  unusual  time;  on  awakening,  his  first 
act  was  to  go  to  the  tree  which  he  had  been  felling  on  the 
former  occasion  to  look  for  his  hatchet ;  the  medium  life 
was  now  forgotten,  and  the  former  returned  in  its  distinct 
reality.  This  is  well  authenticated. 


8  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

September  23. — Just  after  tea  "a  gentleman"  was  an- 
nounced, who  proved  to  be  nothing  less  than  Professor 
Sedgwick  !*  He  had  unluckily  unpacked  at  the  inn,  and  so 
preferred  keeping  to  those  quarters.  He  goes  to-morrow 
with  Barclay  to  Pendour  Bay  in  search  of  organic  remains, 
which  he  fully  expects  to  find  there,  and  does  not  think  the 
Cornish  have  any  cause  to  boast  of  their  primitive  rocks,  as 
he  has  discovered  limestone  with  plenty  of  organic  remains, 
and  even  some  coal  in  the  east  of  the  county. 

September  24. — After  dinner  we  were  joined  by  Sedgwick 
and  Barclay,  who  had  thoroughly  enjoyed  their  morning,  but 
had  discovered  no  organic  remains  but  some  limestone.  A 
note  came  for  Sedgwick  from  Sir  Charles  Lemon,  which  he 
read  to  us :  "I  hope  if  you  have  brought  Mrs.  Sedgwick  with 
you  that  we  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her  to  stay  at 
Carclew,  and  I  will  do  my  best  to  amuse  her  whilst  you  are 
flirting  with  primitive  formations!"  As  Mr.  Sedgwick  is  a 
bachelor,  this  was  pronounced  quite  a  capital  joke  of  Sir 
Charles's,  "who,"  said  Sedgwick,  "is  always  laughing  at 
my  desolate  situation." 

September  30. — "Mrs.  Corgie,"  the  rightful  Lady  George 
Murray,  arrived.  She  is  a  delightful  woman,  and  told  us 
many  anecdotes  of  the  late  Queen  Charlotte,  whom  she  knew 
intimately.  Many  of  the  autograph  letters  of  the  royal  family 
she  gave  me  are  addressed  to  herself.  The  queen  (Charlotte) 
japanned  three  little  tables;  one  she  gave  to  the  king,  an- 
other to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  third  to  Lady  George, 
which  she  has  filled  with  the  letters  she  has  received  from 
the  royal  family.  She  told  us  that  about  four  years  ago  the 
Princess  Victoria  was  made  acquainted  with  her  probable 
dignity  by  her  mother's  desiring  that  when  in  reading  the 
history  of  England  she  came  to  the  death  of  the  Princess 
Charlotte  she  should  bring  the  book  and  read  to  her,  and  on 
coming  to  that  period  she  made  a  dead  halt,  and  asked  the 

*  Sedgwick  (Rev.  Adam),  the  celebrated  Woodwardian  Professor  of  Ge- 
ology to  the  University  of  Cambridge. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  g 

duchess  if  it  were  possible  she  would  ever  be  queen.  Her 
mother  replied,  "As  this  is  a  very  possible  circumstance,  I 
am  anxious  to  bring  you  up  as  a  good  woman  ;  then  you  will 
be  a  good  queen  also."  The  care  observed  in  the  princess's 
education  is  exemplary,  and  everything  is  indeed  done  to 
bring  about  this  result.  She  is  a  good  linguist,  an  acute 
foreign  politician,  and  possesses  very  sound  common  sense. 

October  3. — Captain  Fitz-Roy*  came  to  tea.  He  returned 
yesterday  from  a  five  years'  voyage,  in  H.M.S.  Beagle,  of 
scientific  research  round  the  world,  and  is  going  to  write  a 
book.  He  came  to  see  papa's  dipping  needle  deflector,  with 
which  he  was  highly  delighted.  He  has  one  of  Samby1  s  on 
board,  but  this  beats  it  in  accuracy.  He  stayed  till  after 
eleven,  and  is  a  most  agreeable,  gentleman-like  young  man. 
He  has  had  a  delightful  voyage,  and  made  many  discoveries, 
as  there  were  several  scientific  men  on  board.  Darwin,  the 
"fly-catcher"  and  "stone-pounder,"  has  decided  that  the 
coral  insects  do  not  work  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
against  wind  and  tide,  but  that  the  reef  is  first  thrown  up  by 
a  volcano,  and  they  then  surmount  it,  after  which  it  gradually 
sinks.  This  is  proved  by  their  never  finding  coral  insects 
alive  beyond  the  depth  of  ten  feet.  He  is  astonished  at  the 
wonderful  strides  everything  has  made  during  the  five  years 
afore-passed. 

October  27. — Lady  George  Murray  gave  me  an  interesting 
account  of  Lady  Byron,  whom  she  challenges  anybody  to 
know  without  loving.  The  first  present  she  made  to  Ada 
was  a  splendid  likeness  of  Lord  Byron,  an  edition  of  whose 
works  is  in  her  library,  to  which  Ada  has  free  access.  She 
has  done  nothing  to  prejudice  her  against  her  father.  The 
celebrated  "  Fare-the-well"  was  presented  in  such  a  manner 
as  rather  to  take  off  from  the  sentiment  of  the  thing.  He 
wrapped  up  in  it  a  number  of  unpaid  bills,  and  threw  it  into 
the  room  where  she  was  sitting,  and  then  rushed  out  of  the 

*  Fitz-Roy  (Admiral  Robert),  born  1805.  His  and  Dr.  Charles  Darwin's 
published  accounts  of  this  voyage  are  well  known. 


I0  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

house.     Ada  is  very  fond  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  and 
music,  but  possesses  no  soul  for  poetry. 

November  24. — Large  dinner-party.  Captain  Belcher,*  an 
admirable  observer  of  many  things,  was  very  amusing.  In 
1827,  when  among  the  Esquimaux  with  Captain  James  Ross,f 
they  were  treated  in  a  very  unfriendly  manner ;  he  and  five 
men  were  wrecked  and  their  boat  sunk,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  betake  themselves  to  the  land  of  their  enemies,  twenty- 
four  of  whom,  well  armed  with  clubs,  came  down  to  dispute 
their  proceedings.  They  had  only  one  brace  of  percussion 
pistols  among  them,  and  one  load  of  powder  and  ball.  The 
natives  were  aware  of  the  terrible  effect  of  these  instruments, 
but  not  of  their  scarcity,  so  Captain  Belcher  went  out  of  his 
tent  just  before  their  faces,  as  if  looking  for  something,  put 
his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  drew  out  a  pistol  as  if  by  acci- 
dent and  hurried  it  back  again.  The  other  sailors,  by  slightly 
varying  the  ruse,  led  the  natives  to  imagine  the  presence  of 
six  pair  of  pistols,  and  so  they  did  not  venture  on  an  attack. 
Shortly  after  this,  having  been  repeatedly  harassed,  they  were 
thankful  to  see  their  ship  approaching  ;  the  Esquimaux  now 
prepared  for  a  final  assault,  and  came  in  great  numbers  de- 
manding their  flag.  Seeing  the  helplessness  of  his. party, 
Captain  Belcher  said,  "  Well,  you  shall  have  the  flag,  but  you 
must  immediately  erect  it  on  the  top  of  that  hill."  They 
gladly  consented,  and  Captain  Belcher  fastened  it  for  them  on 
a  flagstaff,  but  put  it  Union  downwards.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  ship's  boats  immediately  put  off  and  pulled  with 
all  their  might,  the  natives  scampered  off,  the  flag  was  res- 

*  Belcher  (Sir  Edward),  C.B..  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  Vice-Admiral,  born  1799. 
entered  the  Navy  1812,  acted  as  assistant-surveyor  to  Captain  Beechey  in  1824 
in  his  voyage  of  discovery  to  Behring's  Straits.  He  was  employed  in  distin- 
guished service  in  the  Arctic  regions  and  the  China  War.  He  commanded 
the  Franklin  search  in  1852,  and  died  in  1877. 

f  Ross  (Sir  James  Clark),  R.N.,  born  1800.  In  1848  he  made  an  unsuc- 
cessful search  for  Sir  John  Franklin.  His  scientific  attainments  were  very 
great,  and  received  the  acknowledgment  of  many  English  and  Foreign  so- 
cieties. His  attempts  to  reach  the  South  Pole  are  mentioned  later  on  in  these 
Journals. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  IX 

cued,  and  the  little  party  safely  restored  to  their  beloved 
ship.  I  should  like  to  hear  the  Esquimaux's  history  of  the 
same  period.  Captain  Belcher  has  invented  a  very  ingenious 
instrument  for  measuring  the  temperature  of  the  water  down 
to  ''bottom  soundings."  He  is  a  great  disciplinarian,  and 
certainly  not  popular  in  the  navy,  but  very  clever  and  in- 
tensely methodical. 

December  2. — We  called  at  Peone's  Hotel  on  the  Begum 
of  Oude,  who  is  leaving  England  (where  her  husband  is 
ambassador)  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Her  bright  little 
Hindustani  maid  told  us  she  was  "gone  down  cappin's,"  so 
to  Captain  Clavel's  we  followed  her  and  spent  a  most  amusing 
half-hour  in  her  society.  She  was  seated  in  great  state  in  the 
midst  of  the  family  circle,  talking  English  with  great  self- 
possession,  spite  of  her  charming  blunders.  Her  dress  was 
an  immense  pair  of  trousers  of  striped  Indian  silk,  a  Cash- 
mere shawl  laid  over  her  head,  over  a  close  covering  of  blue 
and  yellow  silk,  two  pairs  of  remarkable  slippers,  numbers  of 
anklets  and  leglets,  a  great  deal  of  jewelry,  and  a  large  blue 
cloak  over  all.  She  was  very  conversable,  showed  us  her 
ornaments,  wrote  her  name  and  title  in  English  and  Arabic 
in  my  book,  and  offered  to  make  an  egg  curry.  At  the  top  of 
the  page  where  she  wrote  her  name  she  inscribed  in  Arabic 
sign  "Allah,"  saying,  "That  name  God  you  take  great  care 
of."  She  sat  by  Mrs.  Clavel,  and,  after  petting  and  stroking 
her  for  a  while,  declared,  "  Love  I  you."  She  promised  her 
and  Leonora  a  Cashmere  shawl  apiece,  adding,  "  I  get  them 
very  cheap,  five  shillings,  seven  shillings,  ten  shillings,  very 
good,  for  I  daughter  king,  duty  take  I,  tell  merchants  my, 
make  shawls,  and  I  send  you  and  miss."  She  has  spent  a 
year  in  London,  her  name  is  Marriam,  and  her  husband's 
Molve  Mohammed  Ishmael.  Her  face  is  one  of  quick  sagacity 
but  extreme  ugliness. 

December  3. — The  next  day  we  found  her  squatting  on  her 
bed  on  the  floor,  an  idiot  servant  of  the  Prophet  in  a  little 
heap  in  one  corner,  her  black-eyed  handmaiden  grinning  us 
a  welcome,  and  a  sacred  kitten  frolicking  over  the  trappings 


12  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  Eastern  state.  We  were  most  graciously  received  with  a 
shriek  of  pleasure.  Her  observations  on  English  life  were 
very  entertaining.  She  told  us  of  going  to  "the  Court  of 
the  King  of  London. — He  very  good  man,  but  he  no  power. 
— Parliament  all  power. — King  no  give  half-penny  but  call 
Parliament,  make  council,  council  give  leave,  King  give  half- 
penny.— For  public  charity  King  give  one  sovereign,  poor 
little  shopman,  baker-man,  fish-man,  barter-man  also  give  one 
sovereign.  Poor  King  ! — King  Oude  he  give  one  thousand 
rupees,  palanquin  mans  with  gold  stick,  elephants,  camels;  no 
ask  Parliament."  She  and  papa  talked  a  little  theology:  she 
of  course  began  it.  "I  believe  but  one  God,  very  bad  not  to 
think  so  ;  you  believe  Jesus  Christ  was  prophet  ?"  Papa  said, 
"Not  a  prophet,  but  the  Son  of  God."  "  How  you  think 
so,  God  Almighty  never  marry  !  In  London  every  one  go 
to  ball,  theatre,  dance,  sing,  walk,  read  ;  no  go  Mecca.  .  I 
mind  not  that,  I  go  Mecca,  I  very  good  woman."  She  took 
a  great  fancy  to  Barclay,  declaring  him  very  like  her  son. 
She  offered  him  a  commission  in  the  King  of  Oude's  army 
and  twelve  hundred  pounds  a  year  if  he  would  come  over  and 
be  her  son  ;  she  gave  him  a  rupee,  probably  as  bounty-money. 
There  are  two  hundred  English  in  her  king's  service,  two 
doctors,  and  three  aides-de-camp.  She  showed  us  some  mag- 
nificent jewelry,  immense  pearls,  diamonds,  and  emeralds, 
tied  up  so  carelessly  in  a  dirty  handkerchief.  Her  armlets 
were  very  curious,  and  she  had  a  silver  ring  on  her  great  toe, 
which  lay  in  no  obscurity  before  her.  Then  a  number  of  her 
superb  dresses  were  displayed,  gold  and  silver  tissues,  satins, 
cashmeres,  muslins  of  an  almost  impossible  thinness,  which 
she  is  going  to  give  away  at  Mecca.  She  is  aunt  to  the  present, 
sister  of  the  late,  and  daughter  of  the  former,  King  of  Oude. 
She  has  a  stone  house  in  which  she  keeps  fifteen  Persian 
cats.  It  is  a  great  virtue  to  keep  cats,  and  a  virtue  with 
infinite  reward  attached  to  keep  an  idiot ;  the  one  with  her 
here  she  discovered  in  London,  and  was  very  glad  to  ap- 
propriate the  little  Eastern  mystery.  Aunt  Charles's  bonnet 
amused  her ;  she  wanted  to  know  if  it  was  a  new  fashion ; 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I3 

she  talked  of  the  Quakers,  and  said  they  were  honest  and 
never  told  lies. 

December  5. — To-day  the  Begum  began  almost  at  once  on 
theology,  asking  mamma  if  "she  were  a  religieuse,"  and  then 
began  to  expound  her  own  creed.  She  took  the  Koran  and 
read  some  passages,  then  an  English  psalm  containing  similar 
sentiments,  then  she  chanted  a  Mahometan  collect  beautifully 
in  Arabic  and  Hindustani.  She  made  mamma  write  all  our 
names,  that  she  might  send  us  a  letter,  and  then  desired  Aunt 
Lucy  to  write  something,  the  purport  of  which  it  was  not  easy 
to  divine.  At  last  she  explained  herself,  "  Say  what  you  think 
of  Marriam  Begum,  say  she  religious,  or  she  bad  woman,  or 
whatever  you  think."  Poor  Aunt  Lucy  could  not  refuse,  and 
accordingly  looked  sapient,  bit  her  pen-stump,  and  behold  the 
precipitate  from  this  strong  acid:  "We  have  been  much  in- 
terested in  seeing  Marriam  Begum,  and  think  her  a  religious 
lady."  I  think  a  moral  chemist  would  pronounce  this  to  be 
the  result  of  more  alkali  than  acid,  but  it  was  an  awkward 
corner  to  be  driven  into.  She  was  coming  to  visit  us  to-day, 
but  had  to  embark  instead,  after  expressing  her  hopes  that  we 
should  meet  again  in  Oude  ! 

December  15. — John  Murray*  arrived,  and  was  very  amusing, 
describing  all  manner  of  things.  He  knows  George  Combe 
intimately,  and  says  that  at  the  B.  A.  Meeting  at  Edinburgh 
he  got  in  among  the  savants  and  took  phrenological  sketches 
of  many  of  them.  He  describes  him  as  a  most  acute  original 
person.  With  Glengarry  he  was  also  well  acquainted;  he  kept 
up  the  ancient  Scotch  habits  most'  carefully,  wore  the  dress 
and  cultivated  the  feuds  of  an  old  laird,  and  if  a  Macleod 
tartan  chanced  to  be  seen,  woe  betide  him  !  Glengarry  went 
to  George  IV. 's  coronation  in  his  Scotch  dress,  and  during 
the  ceremony  a  very  female  marchioness,  subject  to  vapors, 
observed  his  hand  on  one  of  his  pistols.  Imagining  a  pro- 
jected assassination  of  his  new  Majesty,  she  screamed,  and 
the  Highland  laird  was  arrested  ;  he  showed,  however,  that  it 

*  John  Murray,  lecturer  and  writer  on  the  physiology  of  plants,  etc. 

2 


1 4  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

was  purely  accidental,  the  pistols  being  unloaded  and  himself 
not  disaffected,  so  they  liberated  him;  but  the  affair  produced 
a  strong  sensation  at  the  time.  He  died  a  year  or  two  since 
in  saving  his  daughters  whom  he  was  taking  to  a  boarding- 
school  near  London  ;  the  ship  was  wrecked,  and  he,  being  an 
excellent  swimmer,  took  one  of  them  safe  to  shore,  but  just 
before  landing  the  second  he  struck  against  a  rock,  and  died 
an  hour  after.  With  him  died  ancient  Scotland. 

December  18. — Amusing  details  from  Cowley  Powles  of 
Southey's  visit  at  Helston.  He  has  been  delighting  them  all, 
rather  with  his  wit  than  anything  poetical  in  his  conversation. 
He  is  very  tall,  about  sixty-five  years  old,  and  likes  mealy 
potatoes.  He  gives  the  following  recipes  for  turning  an  Eng- 
lishman into  a  Welshman  or  Irishman.  For  the  former,  he 
must  be  born  in  snow  and  ice  from  their  own  mountains,  bap- 
tized in  water  /rom  their  own  river,  and  suckled  by  one  of 
their  own  goats.  For  an  Irishman,  born  in  a  bog,  baptized 
in  whiskey,  and  suckled  by  a  bull.  What  a  concatenation  of 
absurdities  !  The  other  day  he  took  a  book  from  one  of  the 
shelves,  when  Derwent  Coleridge,  who  must  have  been  in  a 
deliciously  dreamy  state,  murmured,  apologetically,  "  I  got 
that  book  cheap  :  it  is  one  of  Southey's."  It  was  quietly  re- 
placed by  the  poet;  Mary  Coleridge  exclaimed,  "Derwent  !" 
and  all  enjoyed  the  joke  except  the  immediate  sufferers.  Wil- 
liam Coope  tells  us  that  he  used  often  to  see  S.  T.  Coleridge 
till  within  a  month  of  his  death,  and  was  an  ardent  admirer 
of  his  prominent  blue  eyes,  reverend  hair,  and  rapt  expression. 
He  has  met  Charles  Lamb  at  his  house.  On  one  occasion 
Coleridge  was  holding  forth  on  the  effects  produced  by  his 
preaching,  and  appealed  to  Lamb,  "You  have  heard  me 
preach,  I  think?"  "I  have  never  heard  you  do  anything 
else,"  was  the  urbane  reply. 

December  28. — On  coming  home  this  morning,  found  Molve 
Mohammed,  the  Begum's  husband,  and  his  secretary,  in  the 
drawing-room.  He  has  a  sensible  face,  not  totally  unlike  his 
wife's,  and  was  dressed  in  the  English  costume.  On  showing 
him  the  Begum's  writing  in  my  book,  he  was  much  pleased  at 


JOURNALS    OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  15 

her  having  inserted  his  name  as  an  introduction  to  her  own. 
"Ha!  she  no  me  forget,  I  very  glad  see  that."  He  added 
some  writing  of  his  own  in  Persian,  the  sense  of  which  was, 
"When  I  was  young  I  used  to  hunt  tigers  and  lions,  but  my 
intercourse  with  the  ladies  of  England  has  driven  all  that  out 
of  my  head."  He  is  said  to  be  by  no  means  satisfied  with 
bigamy,  and  it  is  added  that  one  of  the  motives  of  the  Begum's 
English  visit  was  to  collect  wives  for  the  King  of  Oude. 

The  De  la  Beches  are  now  settled  at  Falmouth  on  our 
terrace;  they  spent  to-day  with  us,  and  were  very  merry, 
Henry  de  la  Beche  calling  up  the  memory  of  some  of  his 
juvenile  depravities  and  their  fitting  punishments.  On  one 
occasion  he  and  several  other  young  men  saw  an  old  coach- 
man driving  a  coroneted  carriage  into  a  mews.  They  soon 
brought  him  to  his  bearings,  and  insisted  on  his  driving  them 
to  their  respective  homes.  As  it  was  a  question  of  six  to  one, 
he  was  obliged  to  comply.  Having  lodged  three  of  them 
according  to  their  orders,  he  drove  the  others  to  the  watch- 
house  ;  there  they  found  an  acquaintance,  Lord  Munster, 
who,  however,  could  not  effect  a  compromise,  so,  after  much 
bravado,  poor  Henry  de  la  Beche  had  to  liberate  them  all  at 
an  expense  of  five  pounds.  He  gave  many  Jamaica  histories. 
When  the  thermometer  is  at  60°,  poor  Sambo  complains, 
"Berry  cold,  massa,  me  berry  much  cold."  Hunting  alli- 
gators on  the  Nile  is  capital  fun  ;  they  generally  spear  them, 
but  once  De  la  Beche  attempted  to  shoot  one  with  a  long  old 
swivel-gun  fastened  down  to  the  boat  with  an  iron  bar;  the 
machine  burst,  and  the  boat,  not  the  alligator,  was  the  victim. 
He  illustrated  his  position  that  dress  makes  a  marvellous 
change  in  the  very  expression  of  a  face  by  cutting  out  cocked 
hats,  coats,  cigars,  etc.,  and  decorating  therewith  some  of 
Lavater's  worshipful  portraits.  The  change  was  dreadful. 
He  talked  cleverly  of  politics,  in  which  he  goes  to  a  Radical 
length. 


CHAPTER    III. 
1837- 

"  Then  let  me,  fameless,  love  the  fields  and  woods, 
The  fruitful  water'd  vales,  and  running  floods." — THOMAS  MAY. 

Falmouth,  January  7. — Henry  de  la  Beche  gave  us  an 
amusing  account  of  his  late  visit  to  Trelowarren.  Sir  Richard 
Vyvyan  was  always  beating  about  the  bush,  and  never  liked 
openly  to  face  an  adverse  opinion,  but  was  forever  giving  a 
little  slap  here  and  a  little  slap  there  to  try  the  ground,  till 
De  la  Beche  brought  him  regularly  up  to  the  point  at  issue, 
and  they  could  fight  comfortably  with  mutual  apprehension. 
His  metaphysical  opinions  are  very  curious ;  indeed,  his 
physical  views  partake  very  much  of  the  nature  of  these,  so 
subtilely  are  they  etherealized.  He  has  a  most  choice  library, 
or,  as  De  la  Beche  calls  it,  a  collection  of  potted  ideas,  and 
makes,  I  fancy,  a  very  scholastic  use  of  it.  On  looking  at 
some  of  the  bad  handwritings  in  my  autograph  book,  De  la 
Beche  observed  how  much  we  read  by  inference,  and  how 
curious  writing  is  altogether ;  it  is  purely  thought  communi- 
cating with  thought. 

February  2. — Called  on  some  of  the  old  women.  One  of 
them  said,  "  It  was  quite  a  frolic  my  coming  to  read  to  them." 
What  different  views  some  people  have  of  frolics ! 

February  7. — De  la  Beche  came  in  at  breakfast-time  and 
was  a  regular  fun-engine,  and  about  two  we  all  went  off  to 
Gillanyase  on  a  geological  expedition.  We  went  out  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  finding  "  faults,"  and  full  many  a  hole  did 
we  pick  in  the  characters  ofxmr  neighbors  the  rocks.  We 
generally  found  a  decided  "fault"  when  two  "vein"  char- 
acters came  in  contact, — a  natural  result.  Our  raised  beach 
16 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I7 

was  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  change  in  the  sea-level. 
Traced  various  cross-courses :  one  ending  in  little  indefinable 
streaks  of  quartz  was  very  pretty.  But  I  am  not  geological, 
nor  was  a  great  deal  of  the  talk.  Henry  de  la  Beche  told 
innumerable  stories,  as  is  his  wont.  A  French  and  an 
English  boaster  were  detailing  the  exploits  of  their  several 
regiments:  "With  this  handful  of  men,"  said  the  latter, 
"  we  secured  the  demi-lune."  "  Oh,"  answered  the  French- 
man, "mais  nous,  nous  avons  pris  une  lune  entiere  !"  Two 
Frenchmen,  wishing  to  show  off  their  English  in  a  London 
coffee-house,  remarked,  "It  deed  rain  to-morrow."  "Yes, 
it  was,"  promptly  answered  his  friend.  We  examined  the 
Castle  and  heard  somewhat  of  the  principles  of  fortification, 
De  la  Beche  having  been  educated  at  a  military  school.  The 
wall  round  a  castle,  to  be  effective,  should  not  let  any  of  the 
castle's  masonry  be  visible.  He  dined  with  us,  and  we  heard 
many  strange  stories  of  the  scientific  dons  of  the  day,  who 
if  fairly  sketched  must  be  a  shockingly  ill-tempered  set. 
Henry  de  la  Beche  drew  a  cartoon  of  the  results  of  A. 
Crosse's  system  of  revivifying  the  fossil  life  in  an  old  mu- 
seum, grotesquely  horrible. 

February  8. — De  la  Beche  wandered  in  at  breakfast  to  give 
papa  the  two  first  fossil  remains  that  have  been  found  near 
a  lode,  which  he  drew  forth  from  their  hiding  with  his  own 
authentic  hands.  One  is  the  vertebra,  the  other  the  body 
of  an  encrinite.  He  read  us  some  of  a  report  he  is  now 
drawing  up  for  Government,  in  which  he  does  papa  all  manner 
of  honor.  He  made  some  Admirable  observations  on  the  one- 
ness of  human  nature  everywhere  in  all  ranks  and  all  coun- 
tries, with  only  some  little  differences  of  "  localization."  He 
says  that  all  the  beautiful  Greek  vases  are  formed  of  a  series 
of  ellipses,  and  he  has  sent  for  patterns  from  Mr.  Phillips  of 
the  Woods  and  Forests,  to  give  the  Cornish  better  ideas  of 
forms  for  their  serpentine  and  porphyry  vases. 

February  21. — John  Enys  told  us  that  Henry  De  la  Beche 
had  spent  some  time  in  the  West  Indies,  and  tried  to  amelio- 
rate the  condition  of  his  slaves,  and  abolished  the  practice 

2* 


1 8  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  flogging,  though  the  power  was  still  vested  in  the  over- 
seer; he  established  a  system  of  education,  and  did  much 
good.  He  was  warmly  opposed  by  the  planters,  but  he  pur- 
sued his  way,  and  they  theirs.  On  his  return  to  England  he 
had  many  troubles,  which  accounts  for  his  low  views  of  man- 
kind, and  for  the  artificial  spirits  in  which  he  so  often  seems 
to  be  veiling  his  griefs  and  disappointments. 

April  27. — The  De  la  Beches  dined  with  us,  and  were  pe- 
culiarly agreeable.  A  great  deal  of  conversation  went  for- 
ward, on  Ireland,  the  West  Indies,  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Protestant  Churches,  education,  and  phrenology.  Once  at  a 
party  De  la  Beche  was  much  plagued  by  puzzling  riddles,  so 
out  of  revenge  he  proposed,  "  Why  is  a  lover  like  a  turnip- 
top?"  They  racked  their  heads  in  vain  for  the  answer,  and 
he  left  them  unsatisfied.  Long  afterwards  a  young  lady  of 
the  party  met  him,  and  asked,  imploringly,  "  Why  is  a  lover 
like  a  turnip-top?"  only  to  receive  the  provoking  reply,  "I'm 
sure  I  don't  know."  Another  lady,  who  imagined  him  bo- 
tanically  omniscient,  asked  him  the  name  of  a  pet  plant  sup- 
ported by  a  bit  of  whalebone.  "Oh,  Staybonia  pulcharia" 
he  suggested,  and  soon  afterwards  had  the  joy  of  seeing  it 
thus  labelled ;  however,  he  had  the  honesty  to  undeceive  her. 

May  15. — About  one  o'clock  Derwent  Coleridge  was  an- 
nounced, quickly  succeeded  by  George  Wightwick,*  who 
blundered  into  the  room  on  his  own  ground-plan.  Took 
them  all  over  the  Grove  Hill  gardens.  Wightwick  made  a 
profound  bow  to  the  india-rubber  tree  as  having  often  be- 
friended him  in  his  unguarded  mofhents.  He  told  us  several 
anecdotes  of  the  charming  impudence  of  Snow  Harris.  Once 
when  he  (Wightwick)  had  been  lecturing  at  the  Athenaeum 
on  the  superiority  of  the  Horizontal  to  the  Pyramidical  style 
of  architecture,  he  thus  illustrated  the  theory:  "When  the 
French  army  under  Napoleon  came  to  the  Pyramids  they 
passed  on  without  emotion,  but  when  they  reached  the  Temple 


*  Wightwick  (George),  the  architect.     A  friend  of  Charles  Mathews   the 
elder,  and  author  of  the  "  Palace  of  Architecture"  and  other  works. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX  19 

of  Karnak,  which  is  a  horizontal  elevation,  they  with  one 
accord  stood  perfectly  still."  "Rather  tired,  I  suppose," 
murmured  Harris. 

June  22. — Henry  de  la  Beche  was  particularly  amusing  in 
his  black  coat,  put  on  in  consequence  of  the  king's  death, 
complaining  of  tomfoolery  in  thus  affecting  to  mourn  when 
there  was  little  real  feeling.  After  the  late  Geological  meeting 
they  took  supper  with  Lord  Cole,  and  instituted  a  forfeit  in 
case  any  science  should  be  talked.  Most  of  the  party  had  to 
pay  the  penalty,  which  was,  drinking  salt-and-water  and  sing- 
ing a  song.  Two  hammers  were  put  on  the  table  in  case  of  any 
insurmountable  differences  of  opinion,  that  the  parties  might 
retire  into  another  room  and  settle  their  dispute.  Spite  of 
fair  inferences,  he  declares  they  were  not  tipsy,  but  simply 
making  good  a  pet  axiom  of  his,  "  toujours  philosophe — is  a 
fool." 

July  10. — The  De  la  Beches  and  a  geological  student  for  the 
evening;  much  talk  on  the  West  Indies  and  their  concomi- 
tants, negroes  and  mosquitoes.  He  told  us  of  a  spectral  illu- 
sion which  had  once  befallen  him,  when  he  saw  a  friend  whom 
he  had  attended  on  his  death-bed  under  very  painful  circum- 
stances. He  reasoned  with  himself,  but  all  in  vain  :  whether 
his  eyes  were  shut  or  open  the  apparition  was  ever  before  him. 
Of  course  he  explains  it  as  a  disordered  stomach.  He  gave 
me  a  mass  of  autograph  letters,  and  bestowed  his  solemn  bene- 
diction on  us  at  parting,  as  they  leave  Falmouth  on  the  3151. 

July  29. — The  Coleridges dined  with  us;  the  poet's  son  ex- 
pounded and  expanded  Toryism  after  a  fashion  of  his  own, 
which  was  very  fascinating.  Papa  spoke  of  never  influencing 
votes  at  an  election ;  to  this  Derwent  Coleridge  objected,  main- 
taining that  people  of  superior  education  and  talent  should  feel 
the  responsibility  of  these  possessions,  as  a  call  to  direct  the 
judgments  of  those  less  gifted.  A  bright  argument  ensued 
between  the  poet  and  the  man  of  sense.  Derwent  Coleridge 
finds  the  world  in  a  somewhat  retrograding  state,  as  no  such 
master-spirits  as  Bacon's  are  to  be  found  for  the  seeking,  and 
he  has  not  yet  recognized  the  supreme  importance  of  the  in- 


20  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

vention  of  a  new  gas  or  best  mode  of  using  an  old  one. 
Something  was  said  of  "popular  representation,"  which  led 
Derwent  Coleridge  to  define  the  People  as  the  Remainder, 
when  the  noblemen,  gentlemen,  clergy,  and  men  of  superior 
minds  had  been  taken  out  of  the  mass.  What  remains  is  the 
People,  who  are  to  be  represented,  and  who  are  to  select  and 
elect !  Very  characteristic. 

August  24. — J.  Pease  gave  us  a  curious  enough  account  of 
a  shelf  in  the  Oxford  library  which  is  the  receptacle  of  all 
works  opposed  to  the  Church  of  England,  which  are  placed 
there  to  be  answered  as  way  may  open.  Barclay's  Apology, 
and  Barclay's  Apology  alone,  remains  unanswered  and  un- 
answerable, though  many  a  time  has  it  been  taken  from  the 
shelf  controversial,  yet  has  always  quietly  slunk  back  to  its  old 
abode.  Hurrah  for  Quakerism  ! 

Grasmere,  September  8. — We  sent  Aunt  Charles's*  letter 
of  introduction  to  Hartley  Coleridge,  and,  as  we  were  sitting 
after  tea  in  the  twilight,  a  little  being  was  observed  at  the 
door,  standing  hat  in  hand,  bowing  to  the  earth  round  and 
round,  and  round  again,  with  eyes  intensely  twinkling :  it 
was  Hartley  Coleridge ;  so  he  sat  down,  and,  what  with  ner- 
vous tremors  and  other  infirmities  among  us,  nothing  very 
remarkable  was  elicited.  He  offered  to  cicerone  us  to-mor- 
row, which  we  were  delighted  to  accept.  Barclay  walked 
home  with  him,  and  gladdened  his  spirit  with  the  story  of 
Derwent  Coleridge  and  Southey. 

September  9. — A  glorious  morning  with  Hartley  Coleridge, 
who  gradually  unfolded  on  many  things  in  a  tone  well  worthy 
of  a  poet's  son.  In  person  and  dress  he  was  much  brushed 
up ;  his  vivid  face  sparkled  in  the  shadow  of  a  large  straw 
hat.  He  took  us  to  the  Wishing  Gate  which  Wordsworth 
apostrophizes,  and  set  us  wishing.  Barclay  accordingly  wished 

*  Fox  (Sarah  Hustler),  wife  of  the  late  Charles  Fox,  of  Trebah,  near  Fal- 
mouth.  This  gifted  lady  passed  her  girlhood  in  the  Lake  country,  enjoying 
the  friendship  of  the  Wordsworths,  Coleridges,  Arnolds,  and  others  of  that 
charmed  circle.  She  still  lives  at  Trebah,  surrounded  by  the  love  and  care 
of  four  generations  of  descendants  and  friends. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  2I 

for  the  repetition  of  some  of  Hartley  Coleridge's  poetry,  on 
which  he  begged  us  to  believe  that  the  Gate's  powers  were  by 
this  time  exhausted.  He  says  he  never  can  recollect  his  poetry 
so  as  to  repeat  it.  He  took  us  to  the  outside  of  his  rosy  cot- 
tage, also  to  that  which  had  been  occupied  by  Wordsworth  and 
De  Quincey.  He  talked  of  the  former  and  declared  himself  an 
ardent  admirer  of  his  beauties,  as  he  likes  a  pretty  idea  wherever 
found.  He  thinks  that  his  peculiar  beauty  consists  in  viewing 
things  as  among  them,  mixing  himself  up  with  everything  that 
he  mentions,  so  that  you  admire  the  Man  in  the  Thing,  the  in- 
volved Man.  He  says  he  is  a  most  unpleasant  companion  in  a 
tour,  from  his  terrible  fear  of  being  cheated ;  neither  is  he  very 
popular  as  a  neighbor.  He  calls  him  more  a  man  of  genius 
than  talent,  for  whilst  the  fit  of  inspiration  lasts  he  is  every 
inch  a  poet ;  when  he  tries  to  write  without  it  he  is  very  drag- 
ging. Hartley  Coleridge  is  very  exquisite  in  his  choice  of 
language.  I  wish  I  had  preserved  some  of  this.  He  thinks 
intellect  is  now  of  a  more  diffusive  character  than  some  fifty 
years  since,  for  progressive  it  cannot  be ;  there  must  ever  be 
this  distinction  between  intellect  and  science.  He  must  have  a 
large  organ  of  combativeness,  and  he  will  never  admit  of  your 
meeting  him  half-way :  if  you  attempt  it  he  is  instantly  off  at 
a  tangent.  So  we  idly  talked  and  idly  listened,  and  drank  in 
meanwhile  a  sense  of  the  perfect  beauty  and  loveliness  of  the 
nature  around  us.  We  walked  up  to  Rydal  Mount,  but  Words- 
worth is  in  Hertfordshire,  on  his  return  from  Italy.  Mrs. 
Wordsworth  was  very  kind,  took  us  over  their  exquisite 
grounds,  which  gave  many  openings  for  the  loveliest  views, 
congratulated  us  in  an  undertone  on  our  rare  good  fortune  in 
having  Hartley  Coleridge  as  a  guide,  and  gave  us  ginger-wine 
and  gingerbread.  We  saw  the  last  and,  as  Hartley  Coleridge 
considers,  the  best  portrait  taken  of  Wordsworth  in  Italy,  also 
a  very  fine  cast  from  Chantrey's  bust.  In  the  garden  at  the 
end  of  a  walk  is  a  picturesque  moss-covered  stone  with  a  brass 
tablet,  on  which  Wordsworth  has  inscribed  some  lines  saying 
that  the  mercy  of  the  bard  had  rescued  this  stone  from  the 
rude  hand  of  the  builders,  and  that  he  trusted  when  he  was 


22  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

gone  it  might  still  be  regarded  for  his  sake.*  Hartley  Cole- 
ridge then  took  us  to  the  Rydal  waterfalls,  and  told  us  stories 
of  the  proprietors,  the  Fleming  family.  One  of  the  falls,  or 
forces  as  they  call  them  here,  was  the  most  perfect  I  had  ever 
seen.  Our  poet's  recognition  of  the  perpetual  poetry  in 
Nature  was  very  inspiring  and  inspiriting.  He  drove  with  us 
to  Ambleside ;  I  gave  him  "  Elia"  to  read,  and  he  read  "  De- 
tached Thoughts  on  Books  and  Reading"  with  a  tone  and 
emphasis  and  intense  appreciation  which  Lamb  would  have 
loved  to  mark.  At  dinner  he  had  a  sad  choking-fit,  so  queerly 
conducted  as  to  try  our  propriety  sadly.  Then  when  he  had 
anything  especially  pointed  to  say,  he  would  stand  up  or  even 
walk  round  the  dining-table.  He  says  he  should  be  far  more 
likely  to  fall  in  love  with  mere  beauty  than  mere  intellect 
without  their  concomitants ;  for  the  one  is  a  negative  good, 
the  other  by  a  little  misdirection  is  a  positive  evil  and  the 
characteristic  of  a  fiend.  He  much  regrets  the  tendency  of 
the  present  day  to  bestow  more  admiration  on  intellectual  than 
moral  worth,  and  entered  into  an  interesting  disquisition  on 
Wordsworth's  theory  that  a  man  of  genius  must  have  a  good 
heart.  To  make  facts  tally  with  theory,  Wordsworth  would 
deny  genius  right  and  left  to  Byron,  Voltaire,  and  other  diffi- 
cult cases.  We  asked  about  Wordsworth's  daughter :  had  she 
inherited  any  of  her  father's  genius?  "  Would  you  have  the 
disease  of  genius  to  descend  like  scrofula?"  was  his  answer, 
and  added  that  he  did  consider  it  a  disease  which  amazingly 
interfered  with  the  enjoyment  of  things  as  they  are,  and  un- 
fitted the  possessor  for  communion  with  common  minds.  At 
the  close  of  dinner  he  presented  and  read  the  following  lines, 

*  "  In  these  fair  vales  hath  many  a  tree 

At  Wordsworth's  suit  been  spared ; 
And  from  the  builder's  hand  this  stone, 
For  some  rude  beauty  of  its  own, 

Was  rescued  by  the  bard. 
So  let  it  rest;  and  time  will  come 

When  here  the  tender-hearted 
May  heave  a  gentle  sigh  for  him, 

As  one  of  the  departed." — W.  W. 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  23 

which  he  had  written  whilst  we  were  on  Windermere,  Aunt 
Charles  being  the  inspirant : 

"  Full  late  it  was  last  night  when  first  we  met, 
And  soon,  too  soon,  must  part  this  blessed  day  ; 
But  these  brief  hours  shall  be  like  jewels  set 

In  memory's  coronet 
For  the  dear  sake  of  one  that's  far  away. 
Strangers  we  are,  and  strangers  may  remain, 
And  yet  the  thought  of  her  we  all  have  loved, 
Methinks,  by  some  unseen  mysterious  chain, 

Will  long  detain 

This  one  half-day  when  we  together  moved, 
Together  moved  beneath  the  self-same  hills. 
And  heard  the  murmur  of  the  same  sweet  waters 
Which  she,  light-footed  comrade  of  the  rills 

And  '  dancing  daffodils,' 
Has  loved,  the  blithest  of  all  nature's  daughters." 

Then  he  took  us  each  by  the  hand,  said  good-by,  and  was 
gone,  just  bequeathing  to  Aunt  Charles  the  finishing  sentence, 
"  to  see  her,  I  would  go  a  great  way." 

I  can  only  aim  at  a  shadow  portrait.  Conjure  up  unto  thy- 
self, O  Caroline,  a  little,  round,  high-shouldered  man,  shrunk 
into  a  little  black  coat,  the  features  of  his  face  moulded  by 
habit  into  an  expression  of  pleasantry  and  an  appreciation  of 
the  exquisitely  ludicrous.  Such  as  one  could  fancy  Charles 
Lamb's.  Little  black  eyes  twinkling  intensely,  as  if  every 
sense  were  called  on  to  taste  every  idea.  He  is  very  anxious 
to  establish  an  Ugly  Club  and  to  be  its  chairman ;  but  really 
he  is  quite  unworthy  of  the  station,  for  odd  enough  he  is,  but 
never  ugly,  there  is  such  a  radiant  light  of  genius  over  all. 
Barclay  sent  him  the  following  lines : 

"  Child  of  a  deathless  sire  !  with  what  a  throng 
Of  charms  our  friendship's  childhood  hath  been  fraught  I 
Born  in  a  land  of  loveliness  and  song, 
Nursed  'mid  dear  scenes,  and  fed  on  radiant  thought, 
And  breathing  images  which  came  unsought. 
Though  all  too  swift  those  gilded  moments  fled, 
Nor  they,  nor  thou,  shall  ever  be  forgot ; 
Scion  of  Genius  !  on  whose  favored  head 
His  wondrous  mantle  fell  ere  the  great  owner  fled !" 


24  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Liverpool,  September  14. — Papa  took  us  to  the  meeting  of 
the  British  Scientific  Association.  Wheatstone  came  up  to 
us  in  the  gallery,  and  was  most  agreeable  and  cordial ;  he  told 
us  of  his  electric  conversations  which  are  conducted  by  sub- 
terranean wires  between  here  and  London  in  a  second  or  two. 
He  took  us  to  the  Physical  Section,  where  Sir  David  Brewster 
and  Whewell  were  discussing  some  questions  about  spectrum 
light. 

September  15. — Sharon  Turner  came  to  us  and  insisted  on 
escorting  us  to  the  gardens.  Before  we  got  there  he  intro- 
duced us  to  Captain  Ross  and  Lord  Sandon,  and  on  our  way 
we  picked  up  Sir  William  Hamilton  and  Colonel  Sykes,  the 
latter  thoroughly  cordial  with  his  Cornish  friends.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Hamilton  is  a  delightful  person,  very  different  to  what 
we  imagined  from  his  pathetic  speech  at  Bristol.  He  told  us 
what  they  had  been  doing  in  Section  A.  At  the  chemical 
section  he  went  to  quarrel  with  the  atomic  theory,  for  he 
wishes  the  world  to  be  resolved  hito  a  series  of  mathematical 
points,  remarking  that  the  nearer  all  the  sciences  approached 
Section  A  (Mathematics  and  Physics),  the  nearer  they  would 
be  to  perfection.  I  was  presented  to  Lord  Burlington,  Dr. 
Lardner,  and  others,  and  we  walked  about  and  ate  ices  and 
met  Sedgwick,  who  was  very  delightful,  and  all  the  Dons  were 
there. 

September  16. — Went  to  breakfast  with  S.  Turner  and  his 
nieces.  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Lord  Northampton,  Lord 
Compton,  and  Lady  Marion  were  there.  Lord  Northampton 
sat  by  me,  and  we  had  a  thorough  set-to  on  phrenology  ;  Lord 
Compton  was  on  the  other  side,  and  rather  disposed  to  take 
my  part.  Lord  Northampton  bringing  up  the  old  arguments 
of  varying  thicknesses  of  skull,  and  the  foolish  instances  of  bad 
men  having  large  veneration,  etc.,  he  acknowledged  the  force 
of  my  arguments;  and  the  instance  of  Voltaire  was  quite  new 
to  him  of  the  misdirection  of  this  organ.  He  contends  that 
all  the  hackney-coachmen  in  London  should  have  immense 
locality,  and  I  begged  him  to  try  the  fact  universally  and  re- 
port to  the  next  meeting,  which  he  promises  to  do.  After 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  25 

breakfast  went  to  the  closing  meeting  and  heard  various  papers 
read  and  discussed.  Then  came  forward  our  glorious  chair- 
man, Sedgwick,  who,  after  saying  many  soft  things  to  the  soft 
sex,  gave  the  moral  of  the  science,  that  if  he  found  it  interfere 
in  any  of  its  tenets  with  the  representations  or  doctrines  of 
Scripture,  he  would  dash  it  to  the  ground,  gave  the  whys  and 
the  wherefores  in  his  own  most  admirable  method,  and  sat 
down ;  the  synod  was  dissolved,  and  Sedgwick  had  disappeared. 

Falmouth,  October  5. — Went  to  Enys;  found  them  with  the 
addition  of  Davies  Gilbert ;  he  looks  well,  and  they  have  all 
excessively  enjoyed  their  time  on  the  Continent.  Read  us 
some  of  his  new  book,  in  which  he  speaks  very  handsomely  of 
papa  and  his  doings.  Drove  on  to  Carclew  ;  found  Sir  Charles 
Lemon  and  Lady  de  Dunstanville.  Sir  Charles  told  us  that 
Professor  Airy  (whom  he  has  invited  to  Carclew)  was  so  shy 
that  he  never  looked  a  person  in  the  face.  A  friend  remarked 
to  him,  "Have  you  ever  observed  Miss  —  — 's  eyes?  They 
have  the  principle  of  double  refraction."  "  Dear  me!  that  is 
very  odd,"  said  the  philosopher.  "  I  should  like  to  see  that: 
do  you  think  I  might  call  ?"  He  did  so,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  visit  begged  permission  to  call  again  to  see  her  eyes  in  a 
better  light.  He,  however,  found  it  a  problem  which  would 
take  a  lifetime  to  study,  and  he  married  her.  Lady  de  Dun- 
stanville was  in  the  House  of  Peers  when  the  queen  first  ap- 
peared. It  was  a  most  imposing  sight.  Her  voice  was  full, 
clear,  and  sweet,  and  distinctly  heard.  We  drove  home  to  a 
quiet  afternoon.  W.  E.  Forster*  has  come  to  stay  a  little, 
and  looks  taller  than  ever. 

October  9. — Snow  Harris  gave  us  an  account  of  Charles 
Kemble  going  to  see  Niagara,  where  he  stood  lost  in  the  sub- 
lime and  vast  extent  of  this  majestic  vision,  when  he  heard  a 
Yankee  voice  over  his  shoulder,  "  I  say,  sir,  what  an  omnipo- 
tent row  !  I  calculate  this  is  a  pretty  considerable  water 
privilege,  enough  to  suckle  that  ocean  considera-bly !" 

*  The  Right  Hon.  William  Edward  Forster,  M.P.,  Chief  Secretary  of  State 
for  Ireland. 

B  3 


26  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Time  this  evening  was  very  gracious,  for  it  developed  its 
dear  impersonate  Davies  Gilbert.  He  had  i>een  holding  his 
court  and  dining  with  his  tenants.  Soon  after  his  arrival  all 
the  other  gentlemen  had  to  go  off  to  a  committee,  so  we  had 
him  all  to  ourselves.  He  repeated  the  admirable  song  of 
Trelawny  with  true  Cornish  energy,  and  gave  us  interesting 
accounts  of  his  interviews  with  George  TV.,  William  IV.,  and 
the  queen  ;  the  two  former  he  visited  in  right  of  his  Royal 
Society's  Presidentship  to  get  their  signatures.  To  George 
IV.  he  went  and  requested  that  he  would  confirm  the  patent 
as  his  royal  predecessors  had  done,  and  pointed  out  to  him 
several  of  their  signatures.  "Would  you  show  me  Evelyn's?" 
said  the  king.  "  I  have  lately  been  reading  his  Memoirs  with 
great  interest."  Davies  Gilbert  found  and  showed  it,  when 
the  king  remarked,  "  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Royal 
Society."  Gilbert  said  it  was  his  Majesty  Charles  II.  who 
gave  the  first  charter.  "  Very  true,"  replied  the  king  ;  "  but 
that  was  only  ex  officio ;  any  man  who  had  happened  to  be  in 
his  situation  would  have  done  that ;  but  Evelyn  was  the  real 
founder,  you  may  depend  upon  it."  On  leaving  him,  Davies 
Gilbert  remarked  to  his  friend,  Sir  Everard  Home,  "  If  that 
had  not  been  the  king,  I  should  have  remarked  what  an  agree- 
able, intelligent  man  I  have  been  conversing  with," — which 
delighted  the  king  exceedingly  on  being  told  of  it. 

October  n. — Davies  Gilbert  very  amusing  on  the  subject 
of  bringing  up  children.  "  Oh,  indulge  all  their  little  inno- 
cent wishes,  indulge  them  to  the  uttermost ;  'twill  give  them 
fine  tempers  and  give  yourself  much  greater  pleasure  !"  Once 
when  in  the  House  of  Commons,  a  bill  was  brought  forward 
by  Fox  to  forbid  the  use  of  porter-pots  in  Westminster ! 
Davies  Gilbert  opposed  the  bill  as  too  absurd,  and  said  he  did 
not  think  it  could  be  one  that  Mr.  Fox  himself  approved,  but 
that  he  was  only  bringing  it  forward  in  compliance  with  the 
wishes  of  some  of  his  constituents.  Fox  was  not  in  the  House, 
but  Sheridan  immediately  rose  and  declared  that  as  a  friend 
of  Fox's  he  must  entirely  deny  a  charge  so  injurious  to  the 
reputation  of  the  honorable  member.  It  was  Fox's  bill,  and 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  27 

worthy  of  its  high  origin.  Davies  Gilbert  could  only  say  that 
of  course  he  bowed  to  conviction,  and  must  therefore  bear 
the  weight  of  the  responsibility  of  differing  from  Fox.  The 
next  day  he  met  Sheridan,  who  accosted  him.  "  It  was  all 
perfectly  true  what  you  said  yesterday,  but  I  thought  I  must 
say  what  I  did  to  keep  up  Fox's  credit." 

October  18. — Denvent  Coleridge  gave  Barclay  his  own  idea 
about  Christabel.  He  thinks  the  poem  all  hinges  on  the  lines — 

"  And  she  in  the  midnight  wood  will  pray 
For  the  weal  of  her  lover  that's  far  away," 

and  that  this  is  a  Catholic  idea  of  expiation,  that  the  lover 
had  fallen  into  some  great  sin,  and  Christabel  was  thus  per- 
mitted to  do  penance  for  him  by  her  own  great  suffering. 

November  18. — Captain  Ross  dined  with  us,  a  very  agree- 
able, well-disposed  man.  His  Northwest  stories  were  most 
interesting.  He  has  been  in  every  one  of  the  Northern  voy- 
ages, six  in  number,  and  fully  intends  and  hopes  to  go  again. 
The  climate  he  thinks  particularly  healthy,  for  in  all  ordinary 
expeditions  the  common  average  of  deaths  would.be  thirty- 
seven,  but  on  these  was  but  twenty-five.  He  described  the 
first  appearance  of  the  "Isabella."  After  an  absence  of 
five  years,  throughout  which  they  managed  to  keep  up  hope, 
Captain  Ross  said  to  the  lookout  man,  "  What's  that  dark 
object  in  the  distance?"  "  Oh,  sir,  'tis  an  iceberg  ;  I've  seen 
it  ever  since  I've  been  on  watch."  Captain  Ross  thought  so 
too,  but  he  could  not  be  satisfied  about  it,  and  sent  for  his 
glass  :  he  had  no  sooner  viewed  it  than  his  best  hopes  were 
confirmed,  and  at  the  top  of  his  voice  he  cried,  "  A  ship  !  a 
ship  !"  Not  one  of  the  crew  would  believe  him  until  they 
had  seen  it  with  their  own  eyes.  They  were  soon  in  the  boat, 
but  a  little  tantalizing  breeze  would  come  and  drive  the  ship 
on  two  or  three  miles  and  then  cease,  and  this  frequently  re- 
peated. It  spite  of  all  their  signals,  they  were  too  insignifi- 
cant to  be  seen,  until  Captain  Ross  fired  off  his  musket  half 
a  dozen  times,  and  at  last  it  was  heard  and  a  boat  was  lowered. 
As  soon  as  the  ship's  boat  met  these  forlorn  objects,  twenty  in 


28  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

number,  unshaven  skin-clad  sinners,  they  said,  "You've  lost 
your  ship,  gentlemen?"  "Yes,  we  have,"  replied  Captain 
Ross  ;  "  but  what  ship  is  this?"  "  The  '  Isabella,'  formerly 
commanded  by  Captain  Ross,"  was  the  reply.  "  Why,  I  am 
Captain  Ross."  "  Oh,  no,  sir,  that  impossible  ;  Captain  Ross 
has  been  dead  these  five  years  !"  Dead  or  alive,  however, 
they  brought  them  to  Hull,  where  they  felt  the  most  miserable 
anxiety  as  to  what  changes  might  have  taken  place  in  their 
absence;  and  Captain  Ross  added  that  in  the  following  week 
he  was  the  only  one  of  the  party  not  in  mourning.  When 
they  came  to  the  place  of  the  "  Fury's'-'  wreck,  they  found  all 
the  stores  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  Captain  Ross 
had  fortunately  been  beach-master  when  these  were  deposited 
from  the  "  Fury,"  and  therefore  knew  exactly  where  each  sort 
of  provision  and  ammunition  was  to  be  found.  Fifty  miles 
before  this  delightful  point,  the  party  was  so  knocked  up  with 
hunger  and  fatigue  that  Captain  Ross  and  three  or  four  of  the 
strongest  went  on  with  a  little  sledge  and  brought  them  back 
some  sustenance  till  they  could  come  to  it  themselves.  Cap- 
tain Ross  had  an  experimental  evening  with  papa,  and  left  us 
at  ten. 

November  19. — Uncle  Charles  dined  with  us.  He  was  de- 
lighted and  dazzled  by  the  display  on  the  queen's  day,  and 
mentioned  a  right  merry  quibble  perpetrated  by  my  Lord 
Albemarle,  who,  on  her  Majesty's  saying,  "I  wonder  if  my 
good  people  of  London  are  as  glad  to  see  me  as  I  am  to  see 
them,"  pointed  out,  as  their  immediate  Cockney  answer  to 
the  query,  "V.  R." 

December  15. — The  Right  Honorable  Holt  Mackenzie,  son 
of  the  "Man  of  Feeling,"  introduced  by  his  friend  Colonel 
Maclnnes,  dined  here  to-day.  He  is  a  confirmed  bachelor, 
travelling  about  with  his  own  carriage  and  horses.  He  spends 
the  winter  at  Penzance,  and  has  lived  twenty  years  in  India. 
He  used  to  attend  Dugald  Stewart's  lectures,  from  which  he 
thinks  little  was  carried  away  ;  as  far  as  he  followed  Reid  he 
went  well,  but  his  speculations,  he  thinks,  were  obscure.  He 
was  a  very  shy  man  in  company.  Not  so  Lord  Jeffrey,  who 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  2g 

ft 

is  almost  a  lecturer  in  society ;  so  much  so,  that  there  was  no 
room  for  any  one  to  put  in  a  word.  Lockhart,  too,  much 
indulges  his  disposition  for  satire,  and,  being  a  reviewer  by 
profession,  he  is  cynical  in  reality.  The  "  Man  of  Feeling" 
was  written  when  Mackenzie  was  only  twenty.  He  spoke 
very  little  of  him ;  one  can  quite  believe  him  to  be  his 
father's  son,  the  bodily  essence  of  a  man  all  nerve. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
1838. 

"  The  names  she  loved  to  hear 
•  Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year 

On  the  tomb." — O.  W.  HOLMES. 

Paris,  April  2. — Papa  enjoyed  his  morning  at  the  Academy, 
of  which  Becquerel  is  President.*  Our  fellow-traveller,  the 
magnetic  deflector,  excited  strong  interest ;  even  Gamby  ad- 
mitted, though  unwillingly,  the  superiority  of  papa's  method 
of  suspension.  There  was  a  brilliant  and  very  kindly  assem- 
blage of  savants.  Becquerel  called  the  next  day,  and  was 
delighted  by  a  further  examination  of  the  instrument ;  and 
when  papa  showed  him  the  clay  with  a  vein  in  it  galvanically 
inserted,  he  not  only  did  not  doubt  the  originality  of  the 

experiment  (which  H has  accused  papa  of  borrowing 

from  Becquerel),  but  it  was  not  until  after  a  full  discussion 
and  a  thorough  cross-examination  of  the  fact,  that  he  could 
even  admit  it.  He  then  made  papa  draw  in  his  pocket-book 
the  precise  manner  in  which  his  "  experiences"  had  been  pur- 
sued, the  relative  position  of  wires,  pots,  and  pans,  with  the 
intention  of  repeating  it  all  himself.  Nothing  could  be  more 
satisfactory  than  the  interview  and  conversation  between  these 
supposed  rivals. 

April  4. — Papa  and  Uncle  Charles  spent  the  morning  most 
pleasantly  at  Arago's.f  During  their  merry  breakfast  the 


*  Becquerel  (Antoine  Cesar),  the  eminent  French  physicist,  born  1788; 
served  in  the  army  from  1808  to  1815,  after  which  he  entirely  followed  scientific 
pursuits.  He  was  one  of  the  creators  of  electro-chemistry,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Academic  in  1829,  and  a  foreign  member  of  the  Royal  Society 
in  1837,  and  died  1878. 

f  Arago  (Francois  Jean  Dominique),  born  near  Perpignan  in  1786,  died  in 
Paris  October  2,  1853. 
30 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3I 

"  toujours  philosophe — is  a  fool"  was  the  accepted  motto. 
Arago  pleaded  guilty  to  the  definition  of  Tories  imputed  to 
him  in  England,  which  originated,  he  said,  in  a  conversation 
between  Lord  Brougham  and  himself  on  the  doctrine  of  final 
causes.  A  noted  Tory  was  referred  to,  and  the  question 
started  as  to  his  final  cause.  Arago  thus  solved  the  problem  : 
"That  as  astronomers  like  to  have  some  point  from  which  to 
make  their  calculations,  so  the  Tory  was  to  be  a  fixed  point 
whence  to  mark  the  progress  of  civilization  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  human  mind."  Speaking  of  Dr.  Dalton,  he 
said  he  could  not  take  a  joke  at  all.  Once  when  he  had 
taken  a  glass  of  wine,  Arago,  who  does  not  drink  any,  re- 
marked, "  Why,  you  are  quite  a  debauchee  compared  to  me." 
The  philosopher  took  it  very  ill,  and  did  not  recover  for  the 
evening.  He  was  delighted  with  the  specimens  of  artificial 
mineral  veins  which  papa  showed  him,  and  asked,  "  Is  there 
not  some  one  who  disputes  your  theory? — I  forget  his  name." 

Papa  suggested  H ,  who  proved  to  be  the  worthy  referred 

to.  Uncle  Charles  mentioned  some  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  on  which  Arago  remarked,  "  That  reminds  me  of 
the  man  who  told  his  friend  that  some  person  hated  him. 
'That's  strange,'  he  replied;  'for  I  don't  recollect  ever 
having  done  him  a  kindness.'  "  So  our  gentlemen  greatly 
enjoyed  their  morning  with  Arago.  On  begging  for  an  auto- 
graph for  me,  he  wrote  a  very  kind  note,  and  sent  me  inter- 
esting specimens  of  Humboldt's  and  Odillon  Barrot's  writing. 
London,  May  25. — Went  to  Exeter  Hall,  and,  thanks  to  my 
dear  brother's  platform  ticket  and  the  good  nature  of  the 
police,  we  got  a  place  on  the  platform  close  to  the  speakers. 
Lord  Brougham  was  in  the  chair,  and  the  subject  of  the  meet- 
ing was  anti-slavery.  We  came  in  near  the  conclusion  of 
Lord  Brougham's  speech,  which  was  received  with  immerse 
applause,  so  much  so  that  very  little  could  we  hear,  but  I  mean 
to  get  a  printed  paper.  Sir  G.  Strickland  succeeded  him, 
then  G.  Thompson,  who  was  followed  by  a  Lincolnshire 
M.P.,  a  Mr.  Eard ley,  who  entreated  the  meeting's  attention 
for  a  few  minutes  whilst  he  avowed  himself  a  warm  supporter 


32  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

of  the  anti-slavery  cause,  but  opposed  Lord  Brougham's  speech, 
which  was  evidently  against  ministers,  particularly  Lord  John 
Russell,  and  was  dictated  by  private  pique  and  disappointed 
ambition.  Here  he  was  burst  upon  by  a  thunder  of  abuse  : 
"Hiss,  hiss,  hiss!"  "  Down  with  him!"  "Take  him  off!" 
"  Stop  him  !"  "  Hiss,  'iss,  'iss  !"  he  standing  calm  and  erect 
till  Thompson  rose  and  begged  for  a  little  peace  and  quiet- 
ness, assuring  them  that  they  need  not  be  anxious  about  their 
chairman,  as  he  was  perfectly  able  to  defend  himself.  This 
caused  great  clapping,  and  at  Thompson's  request  the  speaker 
was  permitted  to  proceed.  He  went  on  to  say  that  he  had 
expected  opposition,  but  not  that  the  avalanche  would  so 
quickly  descend  and  overwhelm  the  expression  of  his  senti- 
ments. He  believed  that  he  rose  with  a  conscientious  motive 
(hear  !  hear  !),  it  was  to  vindicate  in  some  degree  the  char- 
acter of  a  really  upright  man  (hear  !)  who  had  fallen  under  the 
Brougham-stick,  Lord  John  Russell  (agonies  of  abusive  mani- 
festations !),  with  whose  vote  he  could  by  no  means  agree 
(hear  !  hear  !),  but  he  viewed  him  as  one  on  whom  the  Light 
had  not  yet  shined,  but  who  would  embrace  it  as  soon  as  he 
was  fortunate  enough  to  perceive  it.  Lord  Brougham  arose  to 
declare,  from  what  he  could  gather  of  the  honorable  gentleman 
— "  Mr.  What  is  the  gentleman's  name?  really  it  is  one  with 
which  I  am  quite  unacquainted" — he  supposed  that  he  wished 
to  supplant  him  in  the  chair,  which  he  thought  a  little  unfair,  as 
he  had  come  in  at  the  eleventh  hour,  whereas  his  (Lord  Brough- 
am's) opinions  and  efforts  had  been  acknowledged  ever  since 
the  first  agitation  of  the  subject.  He  dwelt  eloquently  for 
some  time  upon  this  point,  and  seated  himself  amidst  deafen- 
ing applause.  Mr.  Eardley  arose  and  replied  in  the  teeth  of 
the  multitude,  and  then  Lord  Brougham,  with  his  usual  nasal 
contortions,  was  very  witty  for  some  time,  and  proposed  the 
election  of  another  chairman,  that  he  might  legitimately 
engage  in  self-defence.  This  was  seconded  and  loudly  ap- 
plauded, till  some  one  assured  them  that  a  personal  quarrel 
between  Lord  Brougham  and  Mr.  Eardley  was  not  at  all  rele- 
vant to  the  business  of  the  meeting.  The  cheerful  auditory 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  33 

cheered  still  louder,  and  hissed  the  idea  of  Lord  Brougham 
quitting  his  imperial  seat  for  an  instant.  After  much  more 
discussion,  Lord  Brougham  just  rose  to  declare  that  so  per- 
sonal a  dispute  should  trespass  no  longer  on  the  time  of  the 
meeting,  and  therefore  he  would  sum  up  and  give  a  verdict  in 
favor  of  the  "  counsel  for  the  attack,"  and  the  people  laughed 
very  heartily.  Sir  George  Murray  then  spoke  in  an  agreeable, 
sensible,  modest  manner,  his  statements  of  the  supineness  of  the 
legislature  being  very  striking.  But  I  must  get  a  paper,  par- 
ticularly for  a  report  of  the  speech  of  the  "  Member  for  Ire- 
land" (O*  Council),  which  we  could  not  distinctly  hear  from 
his  turning  his  head  the  other  way  and  emphatically  dropping 
his  voice.  He  began  with  a  burst,  "  I  was  one  of  the  ninety- 
six  who  voted  for  the  Motion  the  other  night,  and  this  I  desire 
may  be  set  forth  on  my  tombstone  !"  He  spoke  with  energy, 
pathos,  and  eloquence.  His  mouth  is  beautifully  chiselled  and 
his  nose  retrousse  ;  he  is  an  uncommonly  strong-looking,  stout- 
built  man,  who  looks  as  if  he  could  easily  bear  the  weight  of 
the  whole  House  upon  his  shoulders.  He  gave  a  grievous 
account  of  the  Coolie  importation  ;  but  I  absolutely  must  have 
a  paper. 

June  i. — A  breakfast-party  of  the  Backhouses  and  William 
Edward  Forster,  after  which  we  sallied  forth  to  Deville's  (the 
phrenologist).  A  gentleman  and  lady  were  there  when  we 
entered,  and  he  was  explaining  several  of  the  casts  with  which 
his  room  was  lined,  notably  a  very  interesting  series  of  Amer- 
ican boys  ;  another  of  a  man  who  put  himself  under  Deville's 
care  for  reformation,  who  told  him  that  there  was  a  lady  whose 
development  he  had  taken,  and  it  would  precisely  suit  him,  so 
he  married  her  !  upon  which  one  of  our  gentlemen  said,  "Oh, 
that's  what  makes  your  science  so  popular."  Inquiries  were 
made  about  large  heads,  and  they  proved  to  be  generally  lym- 
phatic, small  heads  more  energetic.  W.  E.  Forster  asked  for 
the  casts  of  Richard  Carlisle,  having  seen  them  there  on  a 
former  occasion,  but  Deville  said  they  had  departed,  which 
W.  E.  Forster  believed  to  be  a  mistake.  He  asked  twice  for 
them,  and  communicated  his  suspicions  to  us.  At  last,  the 


34 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


gentleman  and  lady  leaving  the  room,  Deville  said,  "  That 
was  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlisle!"  a  singularly  awkward  coin- 
cidence. He  is  now,  Deville  says,  going  mad  on  religion, 
the  lady  he  has  married,  a  very  lovely  one,  having  had  a 
wonderful  effect  upon  him,  and  he  is  preparing  a  new  version 
of  the  Bible. 

June  2. — At  Davies  Gilbert's  invitation  we  went  to  his 
"  habitat,"  and  were  hailed  at  the  door  by  the  venerable  phi- 
losopher. After  a  little  visit  to  his  sister,  he  got  with  us  into 
our  fly,  and  we  drove  to  the  Royal  Society's  Rooms  at  Somer- 
set House.  He  is  very  busy  establishing  the  standard  of 
weights  and  measures,  which  was  lost  on  the  recent  burning 
of  the  Royal  Exchange.  They  are  measured  to  a  thousandth 
part  of  a  grain.  Duplicates  are  to  be  kept  in  all  our  colonies 
and  the  different  European  capitals,  so  that  a  similar  loss  need 
not  be  feared.  He  is  going  to-day  to  put  the  stars  in  order 
at  Greenwich  with  Airy.  Went  first  into  the  Council  Room, 
having  summoned  the  secretary,  where  was  the  reflecting  tele- 
scope made  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  own  hands,  the  MS.  copy 
of  the  "  Principia"  which  went  to  the  publisher,  all  in  his 
neat  hand  and  with  his  autograph,  and  there  was  an  old  por- 
trait of  him.  In  the  library  were  two  barometers  which  have 
just  returned  with  Herschel  from  his  expedition.  Their  as- 
sembly-room is  hung  round  with  portraits  of  their  presidents 
and  great  members  and  patrons,  dear  old  Davies  Gilbert  smil- 
ing on  his  living  representative  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  A 
fine  bust  of  Newton  here,  his  face  quite  full  of  nervous  energy 
and  deep  reflection.  On  the  table  was  a  very  splendid  gold 
mace,  which  Gilbert  informed  us  was  the  identical  one  which 
Cromwell  ordered  away  when  dissolving  the  Long  Parliament. 

June  5. — Found  yesterday  Professor  Wheatstone's  card, 
with  a  note  requesting  a  call  to-day  at  King's  College.  There- 
fore, after  a  quiet  morning,  went  there,  and  found  Uncle 
Charles  with  the  professor  inspecting  his  electric  telegraph. 
This  is  really  being  brought  into  active  service,  as  last  week 
they  began  laying  it  down  between  London  and  Bristol,  to 
cost  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  mile.  He  then  showed 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  35 

us  his  "  Baby,"  constructed  in  imitation  of  the  human  organs 
of  speech  ;  it  can  beautifully  pronounce  some  words,  and  can 
cry  most  pathetically.  He  treated  it  in  a  most  fatherly  man- 
ner. His  "Siren"  is  an  extraordinary  little  instrument,  so 
called  because  it  will  act  under  water  ;  its  object  is  to  measure 
the  intensity  of  sound.  He  then  played  the  Chinese  reed,  one 
of  the  earliest  instruments  constructed,  exhibited  the  harp,  or 
rather  sounding-board  with  additaments,  which  communicates 
with  a  piano  two-stories  higher,  and  receives  the  sound  from 
it  quite  perfectly  through  a  conductive  wire.*  Wheatstone 
has  been  giving  lectures,  and  in  fact  is  in  the  middle  of  a 
course.  No  ladies  are  admitted,  unluckily ;  the  Bishop  of 
London  forbade  it,  seeing  how  they  congregated  to  Lyell's, 
which  prohibition  so  offended  that  gentleman,  that  he  resigned 
his  professorship.  We  left  our  friend,  promising  to  repeat 
our  visit,  when  he  will  have  some  experiments  prepared. 

June  ii. — Breakfasted  with  Lister.  He  is  a  great  authority 
on  optics.  Showed  us  varieties  of  fossil  sections  through  his 
powerful  chromatic— or  something — microscope. 

June  12. — Dined  at  the  Frys',  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  the  Buxton  family. .  Fowell  Buxton  described  his 
non-election  at  Weymouth  as  a  most  pathetic  time.  When  he 
made  his  parting  speech  he  began  in  a  jocose  fashion,  but 
soon  saw  that  that  would  not  do,  as  one  old  man  after  another 
turned  aside  to  cry.  On  the  Sunday  he  went  to  church  and 
listened  to  a  most  violent  ser^non  against  himself,  person  and 
principle.  He  spoke  afterwards  to  one  of  his  party  on  the 
bad  taste  and  impropriety  of  introducing  politics  into  the 
pulpit;  in  this  he  quite  agreed,  but  added,  "You  had  better 
say  nothing  on  the  subject,  as  at  all  the  dissenting  chapels 
they  are  telling  the  people  that  they  are  sure  to  go  to  a  very 
uncomfortable  place  if  they  don't  vote  for  you."  He  men- 
tioned as  a  well-authenticated  fact  in  statistics  that  two-thirds 
of  all  the  matrimonial  separations  were  of  those  who  had  been 
united  by  the  runaway  method. 

*  Query — How  far  this  was  the  origin  of  the  telephone? 


36  MEMORIES    OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

London,  June  28. — Met  Sir  Henry  de  la  Beche  at  the 
Athenaeum  among  the  crowd  who  came  to  see  all  they  could 
of  the  Coronation.  The  De  la  Beche  West  Indian  property 
is  in  a  very  flourishing  state,  thanks  to  the  beautiful  changes 
there.  He  has  long  used  free  labor,  and  found  it  answer 
well,  though  he  was  mightly  persecuted  for  carrying  out  this 
system.  A  great  deal  of  thoughtful  talk  on  things  as  they  are 
and  things  as  they  should  be,  on  human  nature,  human  preju- 
dices, self-love,  and  self-knowledge.  Whilst  the  royal  party 
were  in  the  Abbey,  we  wandered  across  the  Park  to  see  the 
ambassadors'  carriages  which  were  ranged  there.  They  were 
very  magnificent,  the  top  of  one  being  covered  with  what  De 
la  Beche  called  crowns  and  half-crowns ;  Soult's,  one  of  the 
old  Bourbon  carriages,  richly  ornamented  with  silver;  the 
Belgian  very  grand,  but  part  of  the  harness  tied  together  with 
string  !  The  servants  had  thrown  off  their  dignity,  and  were 
sitting  and  standing  about,  cocked  hats  and  big  wigs  off, 
smoking  their  pipes.  It  was  an  odd  scene. 

Helston,  August  14. — Derwent  Coleridge  was  luminous  on 
architectural  subjects  ;  he  cannot  bear  a  contrast  being  drawn 
between  our  own  and  foreign,  cathedrals  in  favor  of  the 
foreigner,  and  adduced  a  multitude  of  arguments  and  illustra- 
tions to  show  that,  though  parts  of  the  foreign  ones  are  more 
magnificent,  yet  the  English  far  excel  them  in  harmony  of 
parts,  consistency  of  design,  and  noble  conception. 

Falmouth,  December  i. — An> American  gentleman  break- 
fasted with  us,  a  very  intelligent  young  man.  I  find  all 
Americans  are  great  readers,  principally  political ;  each  family 
also  takes  in  two  or  three  daily  papers.  He  thinks  the  hot 
Abolitionists  have  done  a  great  deal  of  harm  to  both  master 
and  slave.  He  has  unfortunately  much  to  do  with  the  latter, 
and  at  the  time  of  Thompson  &  Co.'s  visit  had  to  put  several 
blacks  in  irons  for  insubordination.  He  cannot  bear  the 
principle  of  slavery,  thinks  Dr.  Channing's  letter  unanswer- 
able, says  the  Americans  are  waiting  to  see  the  result  of  our 
grand  experiment  in  the  West  Indies,  and  that  if  that  succeeds 
they  will  place  the  principle  in  working  order  among  them- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  37 

selves.     He  met  Miss  Martineau  with  Dr.  Charming  at  Phila- 
delphia. 

December  8. — Captain  and  Mrs.  Ingram  and  others  dined 
with  us.  S.  T.  Coleridge  spent  his  last  nineteen  years  in 
their  immediate  neighborhood  with  the  Gilmans,  who  have 
appeared  quite  different  since  the  departure  of  the  bard, — 
their  spirits  broken,  and  everything  testifying  that  Coleridge 
is  dead.  Captain  Ingram  used  frequently  to  meet  him  there, 
and,  though  as  a  rule  not  appreciating  such  things,  spoke 
with  rapture  of  the  evening  with  him,  when  he  would  walk  up 
and  down  in  the  glories  of  a  swelling  monologue,  the  whole 
room  hushed  to  deepest  silence,  that  not  one  note  might  be 
lost,  as  they  listened  to  the  strains  of  the  inspired  poet. 

December  28. — Whilst  paying  a  visit  at  Carclew,  in  came 
the  butler  stifling  a  giggle  and  announcing  "  Dr.  Bowring* 
and  his  foreign  friend,"  who  accordingly  marched  in.  This 
egregious  individual  is  Edhem  Bey,  Egyptian  Minister  of  In- 
struction, and  Generalissimo  of  the  Forces.  He  was  dressed 
in  a  large  blue  pelisse  with  loose  sleeves,  and  full  blue  trousers, 
with  scarlet  gaiters  and  slippers,  a  gold  waist-band  a  foot  and 
a  half  in  width,  and  on  his  right  breast  his  decoration  of  the 
crescent  in  uncommonly  large  diamonds,  said  to  be  worth 
fifty  thousand  pounds  !  He  is  a  tall  man  and  very  stout,  with 
a  rich  complexion  and  black  rolling  eyes,  aged  about  thirty- 
four.  He  is  married  to  a  beautiful  Circassian,  and  only  one, 
whom  he  bought  at  twelve  years  of  age  and  wedded  at  four- 
teen. He  is  accompanied  by  Dr.  Bowring,  late  editor  of  the 
"Foreign  Quarterly,"  and  Mr.  Joyce,  a  civil  engineer  who 
has  just  refused  a  professorship  at  King's  College.  So  these 
good  people  are  come  into  Cornwall  to  inspect  the  mines  and 
acquire  what  information  they  can,  for  the  Bey  is  a  remark- 
ably intelligent  man  and  bent  on  educating  his  countrymen. 
He  talks  French  fluently.  Sir  Charles  Lemon  persuaded  us 

*  Bowring  (Sir  John),  K.C.B.,  LL.D.,  born  1792.  Philosopher,  poet, 
political  writer,  translator,  reviewer,  M.P.,  and  in  1854  governor  of  Hong- 
Kong,  editor  of  "  Westminster  Review,"  disciple  of  Jeremy  Bentham,  was  his 
literary  executor  and  editor,  and  died  1872. 

4 


38  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

to  send  our  horses  home  and  remain, — a  most  pleasant 
arrangement. 

Dr.  Bowling  is  a  very  striking-looking  personage,  with  a 
most  poetical,  ardent,  imaginative  forehead,  and  a  tempera- 
ment all  in  keeping,  as  evidenced  by  his  whole  look  and 
manner.  He  declared  papa's  name  as  much  connected  with 
Falmouth  as  the  Eddystone  lighthouse  with  navigation.  Dr. 
Bowring  knows  Dickens  and  Cruikshank  well, — the  former  a 
brilliant  creature  with  a  piercing  eye,  the  other  a  very  good 
fellow  with  excessive  keenness  of  perception. 

Dr.  Bowring  has  no  opinion  of  the  Egyptian  miracles  re- 
corded by  Lane,*  but  ascribes  them  to  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  language,  leading  questions,  and  boundless  credulity. 
He  says  they  are  now  so  much  at  a  discount  in  their  own 
neighborhood  that  when  he  was  there  he  had  not  moral 
courage  to  investigate  for  himself.  He  has,  however,  seen 
the  power  exercised  over  serpents  precisely  similar  to  that  de- 
scribed in  Exodus  as  exhibited  by  the  magicians.  In  a  party 
he  was  at,  a  sorcerer  declared,  "  I  can  strike  any  of  you 
dumb  :"  so  one  was  selected  who  took  his  station  in  the 
centre  of  the  group,  when  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  the  ma- 
gician proclaimed,  "In  Allah's  name,  be  dumb,"  when  the 
man  writhed  in  apparent  anguish,  utterly  unable  to  disobey 
the  command.  This  effect  he  attributes,  not  to  electro- 
biology,  but  to  a  feeling  in  the  patient  that  it  was  the  man- 
date of  Allah,  and  that  disobedience  would  be  equally  crimi- 
nal and  impossible. 

The  Bey  talked  about  the  queen,  whom  he  thinks  a  very 
interesting  and  dignified  girl,  but  he  laughs  at  her  title  as 
belonging  far  more  properly  to  her  ministers.  He  described 
many  of  the  Egyptian  musical  instruments.  Some  pianos 
have  lately  been  introduced,  but  his  Excellency  is  specially 
fond  of  the  harp.  His  long  pipe  was  brought  into  the  library 
by  his  servant  Hassan,  and  we  had  a  puff  all  round  :  it  has 


*  Lane  (Edward  William),  author  of  "  The  Modern  Egyptians"  and  trans- 
lator of"  The  Arabian  Nights;"  born  1801,  died  1876. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  39 

an  amber  mouth-piece  set  with  diamonds.  Opium  and  aro- 
matic herbs  are  his  tobacco,  wine  and  lemonade  his  little  by- 
play. Dr.  Bowring  seemed  rather  surprised  at  my  ignorance 
of  his  "Matins  and  Vespers."  He  spoke  a  good  deal  of 
Joseph  Wolff,*  who,  he  says,  has  by  his  injudicious  proceed- 
ings retarded  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  East  by  about 
a  century  and  a  half, — sending  a  letter,  for  instance,  to  the 
Bey  of  Alexandria  denouncing  Mahomet  as  an  impostor,  in- 
stead of  commencing  on  common  ground.  Lady  Georgina 
Wolff  said  to  Sir  Charles  Lemon,  "  You  don't  believe  all  my 
husband's  stories,  I  hope,  do  you?"  Dr.  Bowring  could  not 
obtain  an  interview  with  Lady  Hester  Stanhope  ;f  everybody 
in  her  neighborhood  laughs  at  her,  except  her  numerous  cred- 
itors, who  look  grave  enough.  All  consider  her  mad.  One 
of  her  last  delusions  was  that  under  a  certain  stone  guarded 
by  a  black  dragon,  governed  by  a  sable  magician  under  her 
control,  all  the  treasures  of  the  earth  were  concealed ;  the 
query  naturally  being,  why  she  did  not  give  the  necessary 
orders  and  pay  her  debts.  Dr.  Bowring  knew  Shelley  and 
Byron  intimately,  and  possesses  an  unpublished  MS.  by  the 
former,  which  he  thinks  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  his  poems. 
It  begins — 

"  I  met  Murder  on  his  way, 
And  he  looked  like  Castlereagh."J 


*  Wolff  (Joseph),  D.D.,  LL.D.,  son  of  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  born  1795,  baptized 
in  Roman  Catholic  Church  1812,  expelled  for  want  of  faith  1818,  became  Prot- 
estant and  missionary,  married  1827  Lady  Georgina  Mary  Walpole,  daughter 
of  the  second  Lord  Orford.  He  died  1862. 

•f  Stanhope  (Lady  Hester),  eldest  child  of  the  third  Lord  Stanhope,  by  his 
first  wife  Lady  Hester  Pitt,  sister  of  the  great  statesman  William  Pitt,  with 
whom  she  lived  until  his  death.  In  1810  she  took  up  her  abode  on  Mount  Leb- 
anon, adopted  the  dress  of  an  Arabian  chieftain,  and  was  regarded  by  the  Bed- 
ouins as  Queen  of  the  Wilderness.  Her  temper  was  most  despotic,  and  her 
charities,  when  she  had  the  means,  extensive.  Her  memoirs,  as  related  by  her- 
self, are  most  graphic  and  amusing.  She  died  in  Syria  in  1839,  aged  sixty-three. 

J  Known  as  the  "  Mask  of  Anarchy."  See  vol.  iii.  p.  157  of  Shelley's  works, 
edited  by  H.  Buxton  Forman,  who  in  the  prefatory  note  says,  "  It  was  written 
in  1819,  on  the  occasion  of  the  infamous  Peterloo  affair,  and  sent  to  Leigh 


40  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

He  repeated  a  good  deal  more,  which  I  cannot  remember. 
In  company  Shelley  was  a  diffident  retiring  creature,  but  most 
beautiful,  with  an  interpenetrating  eye  of  intense  feeling ;  he 
had  a  fascinating  influence  over  those  who  were  much  with 
him,  over  Byron  especially.  His  unhappy  views  on  religion 
were  much  strengthened,  if  not  originated,  by  the  constant 
persecution  he  endured,  but  these  views  had  very  little  effect 
on  his  conduct. 

He  also  repeated  some  unpublished  lines  of  Byron's  highly 
picturesque;  he  thinks  his  was  a  genius  much  mellowed  by 
time.  Mary  Howitt  he  calls  a  sweet  woman,  and  a propos  of 
her  husband  he  gave  an  "  aperfu"  of  his  own  very  radical 
views.  We  argued  a  little  about  it,  and  ended  by  conceding 
on  the  one  hand  that  radicals  and  radicalism,  according  to 
their  original  meaning,  were  very  different  things;  and,  on 
the  other,  that  to  accomplish  the  greatest  possible  good  by 
means  of  the  least  possible  evil  was  a  clear  principle. 

Mezzofanti*  he  knows  well ;  they  have  just  made  him  a 
cardinal ;  he  is  not  a  clever  man,  but  has  a  knack  of  imbibing 
the  sound  of  language  independently  of  its  principles  and  its 
application  to  reading  foreign  authors. 


Hunt,  who  issued  it  in  1832,  in  a  little  volume  with  a  preface  of  considerable 
interest."     It  commences — 

"  As  I  lay  asleep  in  Italy, 
There  came  a  voice  from  over  the  sea, 
And  with  great  power  it  forth  led  me 
To  walk  in  the  vision  of  poesy. 
I  met  Murder  on  the  way, 
He  had  a  mask  like  Castlereagh  ; 
Very  smooth  he  looked,  and  grim. 
Seven  bloodhounds  followed  him,"  etc.,  etc. 

Sir  John  Bowring  was,  therefore,  incorrect  in  saying  it  was  an  unpublished 
MS. 

*  Mezzofanti  (Joseph  Caspar),  born  1774,  celebrated  as  a  linguist.  One  of 
the  Hare  brothers  was  his  pupil.  He  lived  at  Bologna,  his  native  town,  and 
was  spoken  of  as  knowing  forty  languages.  Lord  Byron  called  him  "  a  walk- 
ing polyglot,  a  monster  of  languages,  and  a  Briareus  of  parts  of  speech."  In 
1838  he  was  made  Cardinal  and  Keeper  of  the  Vatican  Library.  He  died 
1849,  and  was  buried  beside  the  grave  of  Tasso. 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE    FOX.  4I 

On  going  to  the  Holy  Land  the  first  voices  Dr.  Bowring 
heard  were  engaged  in  singing  his  hymn,  "  Watchman,  watch- 
man, what  of  the  night?"  which  had  been  imported  and 
translated  by  the  American  missionaries.  His  "Matins  and 
Vespers"  were  the  means  of  converting  a  poor  Syrian,  who 
on  being  shipwrecked  possessed  that  and  that  only,  which 
copy  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Bishop  of  Stockholm. 
He  spoke  of  the  striking  effect  in  Mahometan  countries  of 
the  sudden  suspension  of  business  and  everything  else  at  the 
hour  of  prayer ;  this  induced  an  animated  discussion  on  the 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  these  positive  signs  of  devo- 
tion,— whether  they  did  not  rather  satisfy  the  devotees  with 
signs  independent  of  the  thing  signified,  or  even  familiarize 
the  habit  when  the  mind  is  not  in  a  prepared  state.  The  name 
of  "Allah"  is  perpetually  introduced  in  Oriental  conversa- 
tion, but  still  with  a  solemnity  of  intention  and  manner  very 
different  to  our  "  God  knows."  We  departed  from  this  very 
interesting  party  in  the  evening,  leaving  the  Bey  absorbed  in 
calculation  consequent  on  his  visit  to  the  mines. 


CHAPTER    V. 
1839. 

"  I  was  all  ear, 

And  took  in  strains  that  might  create  a  soul 
Under  the  ribs  of  death." — MiLTON. 

Falmouth,  January  22. — T.  Sheepshanks  paid  his  respects 
to  us.  He  told  us  that  some  years  ago  a  Miss  James,  an 
eccentric  lady,  was  walking  from  Falmouth  to  Truro,  and  fell 
in  with  a  very  intelligent  man  in  a  miner's  dress.  She  entered 
into  conversation,  and  concluded  by  giving  him  a  shilling. 
In  the  evening  she  dined  out,  to  meet  Professor  Sedgwick, 
and  was  not  a  little  astonished  to  recognize  in  the  professor 
her  morning's  friend  of  the  pickaxe. 

February  u. — Rode  with  Lady  Elizabeth  St.  Aubyn  to 
Flushing.  She  described  Washington  Irving,  whom  she  met 
at  Newstead  Abbey,  as  a  quiet,  retiring,  matter-of  fact,  agree- 
able person.  He  is  unmarried  ;  but  time  was  when  he  was 
engaged  to  an  American  damsel,  who  caught  a  bad  cold  at  a 
ball  of  which  she  at  last  died,  but  every  night  during  her  ill- 
ness he  would  take  his  mattress  outside  her  door  and  watch 
there. 

April  3. — Found  Mr.  Sopwith  at  home,  writing  a  letter  and 
waiting  for  papa  and  Sir  Charles  Lemon.  He  is  the  great  iso- 
metrical  perspective  man,  and  by  degrees  developed  himself 
as  a  very  agreeable  and  amusing  one.  He  is  come  to  help 
Sir  Charles  in  organizing  his  School  of  Mines.  Sir  Charles 
soon  joined  him  here,  and  paid  a  very  nice  visit.  When  Ed- 
hem  Bey  dined  with  him  the  other  day,  he  had  Sydney  Smith 
to  meet  him.  Sir  Charles  told  his  Excellency  that  he  was 
"un  ecclesiastique  tres-distingue :"  so  he  was  looked  upon 
with  the  utmost  reverence  and  devotion,  until  his  stories  and 
42 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  43 

funnyisms  of  all  descriptions  entirely  displaced  the  Bey  from 
his  assumed  centre  of  gravity. 

We  were  pleased  to  hear  of  the  exile  of  the  Chartists  from 
Devizes  by  the  public  spirit  of  its  inhabitants.  Talked  about 
their  principles,  and  the  infidelity  they  have  been  preaching 
everywhere,  our  mines  included.  Sir  Charles  Lemon  said 
they  have  been  declaring  that  the  difference  between  the  rich 
and  poor  abundantly  proved  the  non-existence  of  a  God. 
Some  one  remarked  that  it  is  the  rich,  not  the  poor,  who  be- 
come infidels  ;  only  those  renounce  a  Providence  vvho-do  not 
feel  the  want  of  one. 

April  6. — Whilst  sitting  quietly  writing,  George  Wightwick 
most  unexpectedly  burst  upon  us.  He  criticised  Hope's 
architecture.  He  (Hope)  is  a  mere  furniture-fancier,  and 
all  the  architectural  illustrations  he  adopts  are  the  transition 
series,  specimens  of  the  tadpole  state  of  the  arts,  before  the 
shifting  of  the  tails  and  assumption  of  the  perfect  symmetry 
of  the  frog.  His  own  work  is  coming  out  soon,  only  waiting 
for  the  completion  of  the  engravings,  of  which  it  is  to  be  cram- 
full.  His  conversation  was  most  interesting,  comprising  va- 
rious details  of  the  last  days  of  Charles  Mathews.*  He  was 
quite  aware  of  his  nearness  to  death,  saying  to  Snow  Harris, 
who  thought  him  a  little  better,  "  Yes,  I  shall  soon  be  very 
much  better."  The  day  before  his  death  they  were  antici- 
pating his  birthday  which  would  follow,  when  he  would  enter 
his  sixtieth  year.  He  said,  "You  may  keep  it ;  I  don't  ex- 
pect to."  He  lived  half  an  hour  into  it,  when  his  wife,  hear- 
ing him  in  pain  from  the  next  room,  ran  in  to  help,  but  by 
the  time  she  reached  the  bed  he  was  dead.  During  his  ill- 
ness he  liked  to  have  his  friends  about  him,  and  was  some- 
times so  irresistibly  funny  that  even  when  he  was  in  an  agony 
they  were  obliged  to  laugh  at  his  very  singular  expressions. 
Once  they  thought  he  was  asleep  and  were  talking  around 
him,  and  one  related  how  he  had  been  in  a  fever,  and  was  so 


*Some  of  these  appeared  at  the  time  in  "  Frarer's  Magazine"  in  a  paper 
written  by  Mr.  Wightwick. 


44  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

overcome  with  thirst  that  he  seized  a  bottle  by  his  side  and 
swallowed  its  contents,  which  proved  to  be  ink.  Wight  wick 
remarked,  "  Why,  that  was  enough  to  kill  him."  The  sup- 
posed sleeper  yawned  out,  "  Why,  no ;  he'd  nothing  to  do 
but  swallow  a  sheet  of  blotting-paper!"  As  he  was  once 
sitting  by  the  window,  they  saw  him  manifesting  consider- 
able and  increasing  impatience.  "  Why,  what's  the  matter, 
Mathews?"  "  There,  look  at  that  boy  !  he's  got  a  cloak  on, 
little  wretch  !  a  boy  in  a  cloak  !  I  was  a  boy  once  ;  I  never 
had  a  cloak  ;  but  see  that  little  ruffian  in  a  cloak  !  Faugh  !" 
Once  Wightwick  brought  a  modest  friend  of  his  to  see  him, 
who  gave  up  his  chair  successively  to  every  person  who  entered 
the  room  ;  at  last  Mathews,  growing  irritable,  called  to  Wight- 
wick,  "Do  you  know,  your  friend  has  given  up  his  chair  to 
every  person  who  has  entered  the  room  and  has  never  received 
a  word  of  thanks  from  any  of  them.  Do  go  and  sit  by  him 
and  hold  him  on  it.  I  am  quite  fatigued  by  seeing  him  pop  up 
and  down."  He  was  much  tried  at  his  son  Charles's  want  of ' 
success  as  an  architect,  saying,  "  It  is  all  very  well  his  getting 
good  dinners  and  good  beds  at  the  Duke  of  Bedford's,  but 
they  don't  give  him  houses  to  build."  He  is  now  on  the 
stage,  and  acts  in  vaudevilles  and  those  French  things.  When 
in  Dublin,  Mathews  expressed  a  great  desire  to  get  an  invita- 
tion to  meet  Curran  ;  Curran  heard  of  it,  and,  unlike  most 
men,  on  meeting  Mathews  accidentally  in  the  street,  addressed 
him  as  follows:  "Mr.  Mathews,  I  understand  you  have  a 
desire  to  take  my  portrait ;  all  I  have  to  request  is  that  you 
will  do  it  to  the  life.  I  am  quite  willing  to  trust  myself  in 
your  hands,  persuaded  that  you  will  do  me  justice.  May  I 
offer  you  a  ticket  to  a  public  dinner  where  I  am  to-day  going 
to  speak  on  the  slave-trade  ?"  He  went,  was  thoroughly  inocu- 
lated with  the  great  orator's  savoir-faire,  studied  the  report 
of  the  speech,  and  gave  it  soon  after  in  Dublin,  Curran  being 
present  incog.  He  afterwards  electrified  London  with  the  same 
speech,  and  infinitely  increased  its  effect,  his  audience  kick- 
ing each  other's  shins  with  excitement  and  crying  "Hear, 
hear  !"  as  if  it  was  a  genuine  harangue. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX,  45 

Wightwick  has  been  a  great  deal  lately  with  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  whom  he  finds  a  very  interesting,  well-informed  man. 
He  thinks  his  flattery  rather  a  desire  in  action  of  making 
every  one  pleased  with  themselves ;  for  does  he  ever  flatter 
a  superior  ?  does  he  ever  flatter  in  the  House  of  Lords  ? 

His  remarks  about  Sir  John  Soane,  the  architect,  were  very 
characteristic.  He  was  a  highly  nervous  and,  I  should  think, 
rather  affected  person  ;  he  could  not  abide  truisms  or  com- 
monplaces, and  if  any  one  made  the  common  English  chal- 
lenge to  conversation  of  "  a  fine  day,"  he  would  either  deny 
it  flatly,  or  remark,  "  Evidently  the  sun  is  shining  and  the  sky 
is  blue  ;  there  cannot  be  a  question  on  the  subject."  When 
Wightwick  first  went  there  he  sent  up  his  card,  and  soon  fol- 
lowed it  in  person.  Feeling  nervous  at  being  in  the  real  pres- 
ence of  so  great  a  man,  he  knew  not  how  to  begin,  so  said, 
"  My  name  is  Wightwick,  sir,"  to  be  rebuffed  by  the  reply, 
"  Sir,  I  have  your  card  ;  I  see  perfectly  what  your  name  is." 

August  9. — Went  to  Trebah,  heard  an  interesting  and  con- 
secutive account  of  the  P family  of  G ,  who  in  the 

heyday  of  Irvingism  were  led  into  such  wild  vagaries  by  a 
lying  spirit  in  the  mouths  of  their  twin-children  of  seven  years 
old.  These  little  beings  gave  tongue  most  awfully,  declaimed 
against  Babylon  and  things  appertaining.  Their  p;  rents 
placed  themselves  entirely  under  the  direction  of  these  chits, 
who  trotted  about  the  house,  and  everything  they  touched 
was  immediately  to  be  destroyed  or  given  away  as  Babylon- 
ish !  Thus  this  poor  deluded  man's  house  was  dismantled, 
his  valuable  library  dissipated,  and  himself  and  family  thor- 
oughly befooled.  At  last  the  younglings  pointed  out  Jerusalem 
as  the  proper  place  for  immediate  family  emigration,  and 
everything  was  packed  up,  and  off  they  set.  The  grandfather 
of  the  sprites  was  infinitely  distressed  at  all  these  goings-on 
and  goings-off,  and  with  a  pretty  strong  power  intercepted  his 
son  at  the  commencement  of  his  pilgrimage,  and  confined  him 
to  the  house,  inducing  him  to  write  to  Irving  to  inquire  how 
they  were  to  find  out  whether  they  were  influenced  by  a  true 
or  false  spirit.  Just  before  this  letter  reached  him,  a  Miss 


46  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

B ,  under  whose  care  these  children  first  became  possessed, 

had  an  interview  with  Irving,  and,  instead  of  being  received 
by  him  with  open  arms,  heard  the  terrible  sentence,  "  Thou 
hast  a  lying  spirit !"  She  flew  into  a  vehement  rage,  and  such 
a  "  spirituelle"  scene  took  place  between  them  as  is  quite  in- 
describable. His  remark  was  perhaps  deduced  from  the  fact 
that  he  had  been  informed  of  the  failure  of  many  of  her 

prophecies.     So  he  was  prepared  to  write  Mr.  P a  sketch 

of  an  infallible  ordeal  for  his  young  prophets.  He  was  to 
read  them  the  text,  "  Try  the  spirits,"  and  several  others,  and 

see  how  they  acted.     The  letter  was  received  by  Mr.  P in 

his  library,  Lord  R ,  Mr.  W ,  and  some  other  Irving- 

ites  being  assembled  to  receive  it  with  due  honor.  The  chil- 
dren, quite  ignorant  of  the  test  preparing  for  them,  were 
playing  about  the  nursery.  No  sooner  had  the  library  party 
opened  and  read  the  letter,  than  little  master  in  the  nursery 
flew  into  a  most  violent  rage,  tore  down-stairs  on  his  hands 
and  feet  like  a  little  demon,  uttering  in  an  unearthly  voice, 
"  Try  not  the  spirits,  try  not  the  spirits,"  and  in  this  style  he 
burst  in  upon  his  fond  relatives,  and  found  them  engaged  in 
conning  the  test  act.  This  opened  their  eyes  at  last  pretty 
wide,  and  the  papa  said,  "  You're  a  bad  boy  ;  go  up  into  your 
nursery,  and  you  shall  be  punished  !"  By  a  judicious  disci- 
pline these  two  children  were  rescued  from  what  is  considered, 
with  some  show  of  reason,  to  have  been  a  demoniacal  posses- 
sion. The  father,  however,  became  insane  ultimately  from 
what  he  had  passed  through,  and  died  in  that  state. 

August  19. — A  beautiful  evening  at  Helston.  Some  refer- 
ence to  infant-schools  drew  Derwent  Coleridge  forth  from 
his  retirement  in  an  easy-chair  in  a  corner,  and  he  launched 
out  into  a  Coleridgean  screed  on  education.  He,  no  more 
than  his  father,  admires  the  present  system  of  mutual  instruc- 
tion and  its  accessories :  the  nearer  you  approach  the  old 
dame-school  principle  the  better;  from  that  system  how 
many  constellations  arose,  but  what  result  have  we  yet  had 
from  those  of  Bell  and  Lancaster  ?  All  mechanical  systems 
he  holds  as  bad ;  wherever  they  appear  to  act  well,  it  is  from 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  47 

the  influence  of  individual  minds,  which  makes  them  succeed 
in  spite  of  the  system.  To  build  up  the  intellectual  man  is 
the  purpose  of  education,  and  this  is  not  effected  by  giving 
him  a  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which  one  mass  of  matter 
acts  on  another  mass  of  matter, — though  he  hopes  he  can 
appreciate  this  branch  of  knowledge  too, — but  first  his 
memory  is  to  be  taxed  and  strengthened,  even  before  his 
judgment ;  this  is  to  be  followed  by  the  exercise  of  the  will : 
for  instance,  let  him,  instead  of  being  told  the  meaning  of  a 
word,  search  the  lexicon  and  select  from  a  number  of  syno- 
nymes  the  particular  word  which  best  suits  his  purpose  ;  this 
induces  a  logical  balancing  of  words.  The  advance  made  in 
knowledge  of  late  years  appears  vast  from  being  in  the  fore- 
ground of  time,  but,  compared  with  the  immense  mass  before 
accumulated,  how  little  it  is  !  Knowledge,  he  holds,  like  a 
true  Coleridge,  can  be  best  diffused  through  concentration. 

Having  thus  built  up  our  intellectual  man,  we  look  at  him 
in  his  waywardness  and  vagaries.  The  Plymouth  Brethren 
came  first  on  the  field,  among  whom,  to  his  great  vexation 
and  grief,  are  many  of  his  friends.  He  imagines  their  spir- 
itual views  to  resemble  closely  those  of  the  early  Friends ;  he 
greatly  doubts  the  verity  of  their  self-denial,  particularly  in 
separating  themselves  from  the  ordinary  world  around  them 
and  consorting  only  with  congenial  spirits.  He  spoke  very 
civilly  of  modern  Quakerdom,  congratulating  them  on  their 
preference  for  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect  rather  than  the 
accomplishments  of  the  person  ;  also  on  having  thrown  aside 
the  Puritanical  spirit  of  their  forefathers  and  distinguishing 
themselves  instead  by  their  own  individual  excellences  and 
by  their  peculiar  appreciation  of  the  good  and  beautiful  in 
others.  Then  we  took  sanctuary  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
from  the  hubbub  of  contending  sectarians.  She,  it  seems, 
ever  since  her  first  organization  has  been  in  a  progressive  state  ; 
it  would  be  too  long  a  task  to  prove  why  it  was  not  and  could 
not  be  most  perfect  at  its  first  arising.  He  took  us  into  his 
library,  a  most  fascinating  room,  heated  by  a  mild  fire,  just 
up  to  the  temperature  of  our  poet's  imagination  ;  coffee  for 


48  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

one  on  a  little  table,  a  reading-desk  for  the  lexicon  to  rest  on, 
and  near  it  a  little  table  covered  with  classic  lore;  in  the 
centre  the  easy-chair  of  our  intellectual  man. 

August  22. — With  the  Barclays  of  Leyton  took  luncheon  at 
the  Coleridges'.  Mary  Coleridge  was  bright  and  descriptive : 
she  read  a  letter  from  Macaulay  describing  the  state  of  feeling 
into  which  one  of  Samuel  Wilberforce's  sermons  had  thrown 
him,  who  is  now  on  a  tour  westward  for  the  S.  P.  G.  Der- 
went  Coleridge  talked  about  architecture, — the  folly  and 
antiquity  of  the  phrase  of  a  man  "being  his  own  architect,  an 
expression  ridiculed  by  Livy  but  still  claiming  satire;  he 
regrets  that  our  family,  having  pretty  places,  have  not  houses 
regularly  and  professionally  built  to  correspond.  He  spoke 
kiudly  of  G.  Wightwick,  considering  that  scope  is  all  he  lacks 
for  a  display  of  his  powers ;  dwelt  on  the  advantage  it  is  for  a 
town  to  have  a  good  style  of  building  introduced,  such  as 
they  have  aimed  at  in  Helston.  He  has  just  returned  from 
Paris,  but  must  visit  it  again  to  separate  in  his  own  mind 
between  the  new  and  the  admirable;  he  thinks  England 
vastly  grander  in  every  respect,  and  holds  the  Palais  Royal  to 
be  the  only  really  fine  thing  in  Paris.  We,  however,  borrow 
our  ideas  of  taste  from  them,  in  patterns,  dresses,  furniture,  etc. 
Throwing  open  the  picture-galleries  he  conceives  to  be,  not  the 
cause,  but  the  effect  of  a  love  of  art :  if  the  same  system  were 
pursued  in  England  the  moneyed  population  would  be  ex- 
cluded, as  nothing  here  is  valued  for  which  money  is  not  paid. 

September  3. — Mr.  Gregory  told  us  that,  going  the  other 
day  by  steamer  from  Liverpool  and  London,  he  sat  by  an 
old  gentleman  who  would  not  talk,  but  only  answered  his 
inquiries  by  nods  or  shakes  of  the  head.  When  they  went 
down  to  dinner,  he  determined  to  make  him  speak  if  pos- 
sible :  so  he  proceeded,  "You're  going  to  London,  I  sup- 
pose?" A  nod.  "I  shall  be  happy  to  meet  you  there; 
where  are  your  quarters  ?"  There  was  no  repelling  this,  so  his 
friend  with  the  energy  of  despair  broke  out,  "  I-I-I-I-I-I'm 
g-g-g-going  to  D-D-D-Doctor  Br-Br-Br-Brewster  to  be  c-c-c- 
cured  of  this  sl-sl-sl-slight  im-impediment  in  my  sp-sp-sp-sp- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  49 

speech."  At  this  instant  a  little  white  face  which  had  not 
appeared  before  popped  out  from  one  of  the  berths  and  struck 
in,  "  Th-th-th-that's  the  m-m-m-man  wh-wh-who  c-c-c-c-c- 
cured  me !" 

Letter  from  E.  Crouch,  dated,  like  the  negro  when  asked 
where  he  was  born,  "  All  along  de  coast." 

October  4. — Though  the  weather  was  abundantly  unfavor- 
able, we  started  at  eight  for  Penzance.  At  Helston  found 
Sir  Charles  Lemon,  who  had  got  wet  through,  and  after  dry- 
ing himself  was  glad  to  accept  a  place  in  our  carriage  instead 
of  his  gig,  and  we  had  an  exceedingly  pleasant  drive  to  the 
Geological  meeting.  He  has  just  left  the  Bishop  of  Norwich, 
who  is  gradually  converting  his  enemies  into  friends  by  his 
uniform  straightforwardness  and  enlarged  Christian  principle. 
One  of  his  clergy  who  had  been  writing  most  abusively  of  him 
in  the  newspapers  had  on  one  occasion  some  favor  to  solicit, 
which  he  did  with  natural  hesitation.  The  bishop  promised 
all  in  his  power  and  in  the  kindest  manner,  and  when  the 
clergyman  was  about  to  leave  the  room  he  suddenly  turned 
with,  "  My  lord,  I  must  say  how  very  much  I  regret  the  part 
I  have  taken  against  you  ;  I  see  I  was  quite  in  the  wrong,  and 
I  beg  your  forgiveness."  This  was  readily  accorded.  "  But 
how  was  it,"  the  clergyman  continued,  "you  did  not  turn 
your  back  upon  me?  I  quite  expected  it."  "  Why,  you 
forget  that  I  profess  myself  a  Christian,"  was  the  reply. 

Of  Dr.  Lardner  he  mentioned  that,  having  quarrelled  with 
his  wife  and  got  a  divorce,  and  his  name  being  Dionysius  and 
hers  Cecilia,  has  gained  for  him  the  august  title  of  Dionysius, 
tyrant  of  Sicily  ! 

October  8. — The  Bucklands  dined  with  us,  after  a  Poly- 
technic morning.  Mrs.  Buckland  is  a  most  amusing,  ani- 
mated woman,  full  of  strong  sense  and  keen  perception.  She 
spoke  of  the  style  in  which  they  go  on  at  home,  the  dust  and 
rubbish  held  sacred  to  geology,  which  she  once  ventured  to 
have  cleared,  but  found  it  so  disturbed  the  doctor  that  she  de- 
termined never  again  to  risk  her  matrimonial  felicity  in  such 
a  cause.  -She  is  much  delighted  at  the  idea  of  sitting  in  St. 
c  $ 


50  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Michael's  chair,  that  she  may  learn  how  managing  feels. 
Davies  Gilbert  tells  us  that  Dr.  Buckland  was  once  travelling 
somewhere  in  Dorsetshire,  and  reading  a  new  and  weighty 
book  of  Cuvier's  which  he  had  just 'received  from  the  pub- 
lisher ;  a  lady  was  also  in  the  coach,  and  among  her  books 
was  this  identical  one,  which  Cuvier  had  sent  her.  They  got 
into  conversation,  the  drift  of  which  was  so  peculiar  that  Dr. 

Buckland  at  last  exclaimed,   "You   must  be   Miss ,   to 

whom  I  am  about  to  deliver  a  letter  of  introduction."  He 
was  right,  and  she  soon  became  Mrs.  Buckland.  She  is  an 
admirable  fossil  geologist,  and  makes  models  in  leather  of 
some  of  the  rare  discoveries.  Dr.  Buckland  gave  a  capital 
lecture  at  the  Polytechnic  this  evening, — a  general,  historic, 
and  scientific  view  of  the  science  of  geology,  beautifully  illus- 
trated by  De  la  Beche's  map.  Sir  H.  Vivian  was  chuckling 
over  the  admirable  Ordnance  map.  "I  got  that  map  for 
you;  I  was  determined  he  should  do  my  county  first,  and  so 
I  sent  him  down  direct."  Dr.  Buckland  compared  the  burst- 
ing of  granite  through  the  Killas — which  is  the  almost  con- 
stant condition — to  a  shawl  wrapped  round  you,  and,  to 
illustrate  the  cracks  in  all  directions,  he  must  needs  suppose 
it  a  glass  shawl,  which  would  split  in  rays.  Such  illustrations 
are  very  characteristic  of  his  graceless  but  powerful  and  com- 
prehensive mind.  He  supports  the  igneous  theory,  and  com- 
pared the  world  to  an  apple-dumpling;  the  apple  is  the  fiery 
flop  of  which  we  are  full,  and  we  have  just  a  crust  to  stand 
upon ;  the  hot  stuff  in  the  centre  often  generates  gas,  and  its 
necessary  explosions  are  called,  on  earth,  volcanoes.  Some 
of  those  mineral  combinations  which  can  only  be  produced 
by  heat  are  even  now  being  constantly  formed  by  volcanic 
action.  He  tells  us  that  some  anthracite  is  to  be  found  near 
Padstovv, — not  enough,  however,  for  commercial  purposes. 
In  announcing  himself  in  part  a  Huttonian,*  he  cautioned  his 

*  Hutton  (James),  M.D.,  born  1726,  author  of  the  "  Plutonian  Theory  of 
Geology:"  he  published  much,  and  upon  some  of  his  theories  being  vigorously 
attacked  by  Dr.  Kirwan  they  were  as  zealously  defended  by  Professor  John 
Playfair.  He  died  1797. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  51 

hearers  against  running  away  with  an  opinion  or  statement 
beyond  what  the  lecturer  had  warranted.  Speaking  of  the 
modern  tendency  to  fancy  danger  to  religion  in  the  investi- 
gations of  physical  science,  he  remarked,  "  Shall  we  who  are 
endowed  by  a  gracious  Creator  with  power  and  intelligence, 
and  a  capacity  to  use  them, — shall  we  sit  lazily  down  and  say, 
Our  God  has  indeed  given  us  eyes,  but  we  will  not  see  with 
them  ;  reason  and  intelligence,  but  we  will  exert  neither  ?  Is 
this  our  gratitude  to  our  Maker  for  some  of  his  choicest  gifts, 
and  not  rather  a  stupid  indifference  most  displeasing  in  his 
sight?"  He  made  some  good  allusions  to  Sir  Charles  Lemon's 
mining  school,  and  mentioned  the  frequent  evidence  of  the 
fact  that  barbarians  of  all  nations  (no  allusion  to  Sir  C.  L. 
or  Cornish  miners)  have  hit  on  similar  expedients  for  supply- 
ing their  necessities  ;  the  old  Celtic  arms,  for  instance,  are  of 
precisely  the  same  form  as  the  axes  and  hatchets  contrived  by 
the  New  Zealanders.  Speaking  of  the  immense  real  value  of 
iron,  he  remarked,  "  What  a  fortune  for  a  man,  cast  into  a 
country  where  iron  was  unknown,  would  the  bent  nail  from  the 
broken  shoe  of  a  lame  donkey  be  !"  and. altogether  the  lecture 
was  much  more  agreeable  and  less  coarse  than  when  he  treats 
of  the  footsteps  of  animals  and  birds  on  the  old  red  sandstone. 
Davies  Gilbert  walked  home  with  us,  and  was  very  bright 
after  all  the  labors  of  the  day;  gave  us  instances  of  his  medi- 
ation with  papas  in  favor  of  runaway  daughters,  and  men- 
tioned as  a  good  converse  to  his  system  the  manner  in  which 
old  Thurlow  received  the  news  of  his  dear  daughter,  who  had 
taken  her  fate  into  her  own  hands.  "Burn  her  picture! 
Break  up  her  piano  !  Shoot  her  horse  !" 

October  9. — Snow  Harris  lunched  with  us;  much  pleasant 
conversation  on  different  modes  of  puffing.  He  mentioned 
that  Day  &  Martin  used  to  drive  about  in  a  gig  in  their  early 
days  all  over  the  country,  one  as  servant  to  the  other,  and  at 
every  inn  the  servant  would  insist  on  having  his  master's  shoes 
cleaned  with  Day  &  Martin's  blacking,  "  as  nothing  else  was 
used  by  people  of  fashion,"  and  so  induced  large  orders. 

October  25. — G.  Wightwick  and  others  dined  with  us.     He 


5  2  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

talked  agreeably  about  capital  punishments,  greatly  doubting 
their  having  any  effect  in  preventing  crime.  Soon  after 
Fauntleroy  was  hanged,  an  advertisement  appeared  "  To  all 
good  Christians  !  Pray  for  the  soul  of  Fauntleroy."  This 
created  a  good  deal  of  speculation  as  to  whether  he  was  a 
Catholic,  and  at  one  of  Coleridge's  soirees  it  was  discussed  for 
a  considerable  time ;  at  length  Coleridge,  turning  to  Lamb, 
asked,  "  Do  you  know  anything  about  this  affair  ?"  "Ishould 
think  I  d-d-d-did,"  said  Elia,  "  for  I  paid  s-s-s-seven  and 
sixpence  for  it !" 

October  26. — Poor  J B in  distressing  delirium, 

having  taken  in  ten  hours  the  morphia  intended  for  forty- 
eight.  He  was  tearing  off  his  clothes,  crying  out,  "I'm  a 
glorified  spirit !  I'm  a  glorified  spirit !  Take  away  these  filthy 
rags  !  What  should  a  glorified  spirit  do  with  these  filthy 

rags?"  On  this  E said,  coaxingly,  "  Why,  my  dear,  you 

wouldn't  go  to  heaven  stark  naked  !"  on  which  the  attend- 
ants who  were  holding  him  were  mightily  set  off. 

November  5. — A  pleasant  visit  to  Carclew.  E.  Lemon  told 
us  much  of  the  Wolffs :  he  is  now  Doctor,  and  has  a  parish 
near  Huddersfield.  She  was  Lady  Georgina's  bridesmaid, 
and  the  wedding  was  an  odd  affair  indeed.  It  was  to  her  that 
Lady  Georgina  made  the  remark,  after  first  seeing  her  future 
husband,  "  We  had  a  very  pleasant  party  at  Lady  Olivia  Spar- 
row's, where  I  met  the  most  interesting,  agreeable,  enthusi- 
astic, ugly  man  I  ever  saw!"  She  is  a  clever,  intellectual 
woman,  but  as  enthusiastic,  wandering,  and  desultory  in  her 
habits  as  himself.  E.  Lemon  has  been  not  long  since  at 
Venice.  She  told  us  that  poor  Malibran  when  she  was  there 
did  not  like  the  sombre  regulation  causing  the  gondolas  to 
be  painted  black,  and  had  hers  colored  green ;  this,  she  was 
informed  officially,  would  never  do.  "Then  I  won't  sing  !" 
was  the  prompt  and  efficacious  reply,  and  the  siren  lulled  to 
slumber  the  sumptuary  law  of  Venice. 

December  8. — Barclay  brought  home  a  capital  answer  which 
a  Cornish  miner  made  to  Captain  Head  (when  travelling  with 
him),  who,  looking  at  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  asked  him, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  53 

"  Can  anything  be  compared  to  this  ?"  "  Yes  ;  them  things 
at  home  that  wear  caps  and  aprons  !"  said  the  faithful  hus- 
band. 

December  13. — Papa  and  I  were  busy  writing,  when,  to 
our  surprise,  in  walked  Dr.  Bowring.  He  is  come  to  stand 
for  this  place,  an  enterprise  in  which  papa  said  what  he  could 
to  discourage  him.  He  promises  to  incur  no  illegitimate  ex- 
penses, and  therefore  has  not  the  least  chance  of  success.  He 
has  just  returned  from  a  diplomatic  visit  to  Berlin. 

December  14. — Dr.  Bowring  dined  with  us,  after  addressing 
the  Penryn  constituency  and  being  rather  disgusted  by  their 
appearance.  The  only  thing  in  his  speech  that  at  all  touched 
them  was  his  declaration  that  he  was  half  a  Cornishman,  his 
mother  being  the  daughter  of  the  clergyman  and  schoolmaster 
of  St.  Ives,  Mr.  Lane,  whose  memory,  he  understood,  is  still 
held  in  the  odor  of  sanctity.  Three  years  ago  he  had  a  very 
pleasant  interview  with  the  present  Pope.  He  and  Mr.  Her- 
ries,  a  Tory  M.P.,  went  together  and  found  him  alone  in  a 
small  room,  dressed  in  pure  white  from  head  to  foot,  without 
any  ornament  but  the  gold  cross  on  his  shoe  which  the  clergy 
kiss.  The  etiquette  is  for  cardinals  to  kiss  the  St.  Peter's  ring 
on  his  finger,  bishops  to  kiss  the  knee,  and  the  lower  clergy 
the  cross  on  the  shoe.  Dr.  Bowring  on  this  occasion  had  a 
cardinal's  privilege.  The  Pope  gave  an  immediate  and  amus- 
ing proof  of  his  fallibility  by  addressing  Mr.  Herries  as  a 
champion  of  liberty  of  conscience,  and  protector  of  the  rights 
of  the  Catholics,  mistaking  him  for  Dr.  Bowring,  whom  he 
mistook  for  an  Irish  M.P.  Dr.  Bowring  told  him  he  was  not 
a  Roman  Catholic,  but  a  heretic,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian, — 
which  he  then  was.  The  Pope  was  very  agreeable,  and  when 
Dr.  Bowring  spoke  to  him  of  free  trade  he  said,  "  It's  all  very 
good,  but  I  think  my  monopoly  is  a  better  thing." 

Dr.  Bowring  had  also  formerly  had  an  audience  of  Napo- 
leon's Pope,  a  very  pleasant  man  ;  they  talked  on  poetry,  each 
repeating  passages  from  Dante,  who,  his  Holiness  informed 
the  doctor,  had  lived  in  the  very  same  cell  which  he  once  in- 
habited in  a  Carthusian  monastery.  The  Pope's  secretary, 


54 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


who  ushered  him  into  his  presence,  was  a  lineal  descendant 
of  the  Consul  Publius  Manlius,  whose  landed  property  had 
descended  to  him. 

He  knows  the  Buxtons  and  Gurneys,  and  received  an  in- 
teresting letter  from  Sarah  Buxton  acknowledging  a  nosegay 
of  flowers  gathered  at  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth.  When  in 
the  Holy  Land  he  felt  himself  completely  thrown  back  into 
gospel  history  and  gospel  times,  so  stationary  are  the  customs 
of  the  people.  Often  were  passages  of  Scripture  recalled  to 
his  mind  by  events  passing  around  him,  as  when  on  the  shore 
of  the  lake  of  Tiberias  one  of  those  sudden  storms  arose  so 
beautifully  described  in  the  Bible.  He  was  once  at  Sychar  in 
Samaria,  just  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Gerizim,  and  had  been 
recommended  to  the  high-priest,  with  injunctions  to  show  him 
everything  in  his  church.  Among  other  treasures  he  showed 
him  the  oldest  MS.  extant,  namely,  the  Samaritan  version  of 
the  Bible,  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  of  age.  In  this 
the  high-priest  pointed  out  to  him  a  text,  "  On  Mount  Geri- 
zim is  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship,"  which  he  said 
the  Jews  had  purposely  omitted  in  their  version  :  he  inveighed 
against  them  in  the  very  same  spirit  described  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  ago.  In  accordance  with  this  text,  all  the  Samari- 
tans assemble  annually  on  Mount  Gerizim  and  perform  their 
worship  there.  Damascus  is  an  extremely  interesting  city, 
everything  kept  as  of  yore, — the  street  called  Straight,  the 
house  of  Ananias,  the  prison  in  the  wall,  through  whose  win- 
dow Paul  escaped  in  a  basket ;  every  cherished  event  has  here 
"a  local  habitation  and  a  name"  handed  down  by  tradition. 
He  was  very  anxious  to  see  Lady  Hester  Stanhope,  and  wrote 
to  her  physician  for  leave  to  do  so.  Her  reply  was,  "  No,  I 
won't  receive  any  of  those  rascally  English."  She  had  a  no- 
tion that  the  Scotch  and  Albanians  were  the  only  honest  people 
to  be  found  anywhere.  She  greatly  blamed  Joseph  Wolff  for 
apostatizing  from  so  old  and  respectable  a  religion  as  Judaism, 
and  in  a  celebrated  letter  to  him  she  says,  "  Can  you  for  an 
instant  think  anything  of  Christianity  if  it  requires  the  aid 
of  such  a  vagabond  adventurer  as  yourself  to  make  it  known  ?" 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  55 

Many  of  the  Druses  are  now  becoming  Christians,  and,  as 
their  doing  so  disqualifies  them  from  certain  civil  offices, 
Dr.  Bowring  wrote  to  Mahomet  Ali,  begging  him  not  to  let 
them  suffer  for  attending  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  and 
received  this  message  in  reply,  from  the  Prime  Minister :  "  His 
Highness's  principles  of  toleration  may  ever  be  depended 
on."  In  the  Egyptian  burial-grounds  repose  millions  of 
mummies,  which  any  one  may  have  for  the  trouble  of  digging. 
One  which  his  boy  opened  slowly  emitted,  to  their  infinite 
horror,  a  live  black  snake.  In  Phoenicia  the  people  eat  cream 
just  like  the  Cornish  folk,  which  raised  the  question  whether 
it  was  imported  from  Cornwall  with  the  tin. 

December  16. — A  government  messenger  has  persuaded  Dr. 
Bowring  to  resign  his  parliamentary  views  in  favor  of  another 
who  has  a  long  purse  and  is  willing  to  use  it.  He  was  low 
and  vexed  about  the  business,  having  had  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  coming  here  to  no  purpose ;  however,  he  does  not 
wish  to  split  the  Falmouth  Reformers,  and  accordingly  pub- 
lished his  farewell  address  and  retired. 

December  28. — News  arrived  to-day  in  an  indirect  manner 
of  the  death  of  poor,  dear,  long-loved  Davies  Gilbert;  no 
particulars  but  that  it  came  suddenly  at  last. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
1840. 

"  He  was  indeed  the  glass 
Wherein  the  noble  youth  did  dress  themselves." — SHAKESPEARE. 

Falmouth,  January  i. — Entered  on  another  year.  Happy 
experience  emboldens  us  to  look  forward  with  joyful  anticipa- 
tions to  the  voyage  of  life  ;  we  have  been  hitherto  in  calm  water 
indeed,  and  for  this  how  thankful  should  we  be,  but  we  must 
expect  some  gales  before  we  drop  our  anchor.  May  we  be 
prepared  to  meet  them  ! 

Alexander  Christey  left  us  after  dinner  for  Nice  via  London. 
He  told  us  about  Robert  Owen  (the  Socialist),  an  old  friend 
of  his  father's.  He  is  making  numberless  converts  among  the 
manufacturing  districts.  He  and  his  family  dwell  in  New 
Harmony  in  the  United  States.  William  Fenwick  spoke  of 
his  grandfather  having  fished  out  Sir  John  Barrow  from  be- 
hind a  linen-draper's  counter,  discovered  his  latent  talents, 
had  him  taught  mathematics,  and  finally  introduced  him  to 
the  world,  in  which  he  has  made  such  good  way. 

January  5. — After  dinner  Nadir  Shah  was  announced,  and 
in  waddled  this  interesting  soi-disant  son  of  the  late  Sultan. 
He  does  not  look  nearly  so  distinguished  as  in  native  costume. 
He  talks  English  beautifully,  having  been  here  three  times, 
and  described  the  manner  in  which  he  learned  it  in  five 
months  :  took  an  English  professor,  made  himself  master  of 
the  alphabet,  but  resolutely  resisted  the  idea  of  spelling,  told 
his  master,  "  I'll  pay  you  ten  times  as  much  if  you  will  teach 
me  in  my  own  way.  I  understand  that  Milton  and  Shake- 
speare are  the  finest  writers  in  English,  so  you  must  now  teach 
me  in  them."  The  plan  succeeded,  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  professor.  He  is  acquainted  with  Edhem  Bey,  but  speaks 
56 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  57 

of  his  plan  for  artificial  inundations  of  the  Nile  as  not  feas- 
ible, in  consequence  of  its  having  so  many  mouths,  each  of 
which  would  require  a  separate  embankment.  The  idea  has 
been  before  started.  Spoke  of  Mahomet  Ali  as  a  capital  gen- 
eral, and  a  character  of  great  penetration, — >able,  though  not 
an  original  genius  himself,  to  see  and  appreciate  the  talents, 
opinions,  and  advice  of  others,  as  useful  a  quality  as  origi- 
nality. He  shrugged  his  shoulders  when  Russia  was  talked  of, 
and  said  he  should  act  in  the  same  manner  as  Nicholas  if  he 
had  the  power :  he  should  try  and  extend  his  possessions. 
Spoke  of  the  wonderful  libraries  they  have  in  Turkey,  old 
Arabic  and  Persian  manuscripts ;  the  Austrian  government 
has  employed  people  to  copy  those  in  the  various  public  col- 
lections for  its  own  use,  not  for  publication. 

January  10. — Received  my  last  frank  to-day  from  Sir 
Charles  Lemon.  What  a  happiness  for  the  M.P.'s  that  daily 
nuisance  being  superseded. 

January  23. — Went  to  Perran*  to  breakfast,  and  found  that 
we  had  been  preceded  about  five  minutes  by  Derwent  Cole- 
ridge and  his  friend  John  Moultrie.  The  first  half-hour  was 
spent  in  petting  the  cats;  but  I  should  begin  by  describing 
the  Leo  Novo.  Moultrie  is  not  a  prepossessing-looking  per- 
sonage,— a  large,  broad-shouldered,  athletic  man,  if  he  had  but 
energy  enough  to  develop  his  power, — a  sort  of  Athelstane  of 
Coningsburgh  ;  but  his  countenance  grows  on  you  amazingly ; 
you  discover  in  the  upper  part  a  delicacy  and  refinement  of 
feeling  before  unrecognized,  and  in  the  whole  a  magnanimity 
which  would  inspire  confidence.  But  certainly  his  face  is  no 
directing-post  for  wayfaring  men  and  women,  "  Take  notice, 
a  Poet  lives  here  !"  He  talks  as  if  it  were  too  much  trouble 
to  arrange  his  words,  but  out  they  tumble,  and  you  gladly  pick 
them  up  and  pocket  them  for  better  or  for  worse;  though,  truth 
to  tell,  his  conversation  would  not  suggest  the  author  of  the 
"  Three  Sons."  Derwent  Coleridge  was  bright  and  genial, 

*  Then  the  residence  of  Charles  Fox  and  his  wife,  who  afterwards  moved  to 
Trebah,  which  at  this  period  was  only  used  as  a  summer  residence. 


5  8  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS 

— his  mobile,  refined,  even  fastidious  countenance  so  truly 
heralding  the  mind  and  heart  within.  Breakfast  was  fully 
appreciated  by  our  hungry  poets.  Something  was  said  about 
the  number  of  seals  lately  seen  sporting  off  Portreath,  and  the 
idea  was  mooted  .that  the  mermaids  were  nothing  but  seals, 
and  their  yellow  locks  the  long  whiskers  of  the  fish.  "  Oh, 
don't  say  so,"  pleaded  Moultrie.  Then  came  some  anec- 
dotes of  the  mild  old  (Quaker)  banker  Lloyd,  brother  to  the 
poet,  and  himself  a  translator.  Derwent  Coleridge  asked  him 
why  he  had  never  translated  the  Iliad.  "Why,"  answered 
the  old  Friend  of  seventy-four,  "I  have  sometimes  thought 
of  the  work,  but  I  feared  the  martial  spirit."  Once  a  shop- 
keeper had  sent  his  father  some  bad  article,  and  he  was  com- 
missioned to  go  and  lecture  him  therefor ;  on  his  return  home 
he  was  asked,  "  Hast  thou  been  to  the  shop  to  reprove  the 
dealer?"  "Yes,  father,  I  went  to  the  shop,  but  a  maiden 
served,  and  she  was  so  young  and  pretty  that  I  could  not  re- 
buke her."  One  other,  and  a  graver,  remembrance  of  the 
good  old  man  :  Derwent  Coleridge  when  seventeen  had  some 
serious  conversation  with  him,  from  which  he  suddenly  broke 
off,  saying,  "  But  thou  wilt  not  understand  what  I  mean  by 
the  Unction.'"  Whenever  he  now  hears  the  word  this  remark 
recurs  to  his  mind,  and  with  it  the  peculiarly  deep  and  solemn 
feeling  it  inspired,  and  the  recognition  of  that  spiritual  mean- 
ing which  Friends  attach  to  the  word  Unction,  that  which  is 
indeed  spirit  and  life.  He  read  to  Moultrie  his  brother  Hart- 
ley's address  to  the  Mont  Blanc  butterfly,  and  got  as  well  as 
he  could  through  certain  difficult  lines.  He  excessively  ad- 
mires the  terseness  of  some  of  them,  particularly, — 

"  Alas  !  he  never  loved  this  place, 
It  bears  no  image  of  his  grace  ;" 

and  the  concluding  line, — 

"  Where  there's  nothing  to  do,  and  nothing  to  love  !" 

this  vacuity  both  of  action  and  passion.     He  recognized  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  59 

poem  instantly  as  Hartley's  when  it  appeared  in  the  "  Penny 
Magazine,"  and  greatly  prides  himself  on  having  seen  Lamb's 
touch  in  four  simple  little  lines,  before  he  had  ever  heard  of 
his  writing  poetry.  Talked  delightfully  about  "Elia;"  sees 
most  genius  in  "  New  Year's  Eve,"  and  repeated  some  as  it 
should  be  repeated.  J.  Moultrie  wrote  a  sonnet  for  me,  illus- 
trating the  difference  between  the  sister  arts  of  poetry  and 
painting,  and  read  it ;  his  voice  and  reading  a  painful  contrast 
to  the  almost  too  dulcet  strains  of  his  beloved  friend.  But 
there  is  such  honesty  in  his  tones  !  He  quarrelled  with  cer- 
tain gilt  scissors  of  Anna  Maria's  because  they  were  a  deceit 
in  wishing  to  appear  gold,  and  an  unreasonable  deceit,  because 
gold  is  not  the  metal  best  adapted  for  cutting,  and  doubly  un- 
suitable for  Anna  Maria,  considering  her  religious  principles, 
which  bound  her  over  to  abhor  alike  gilding  and  deceit.  He 
very  properly  lectured  us  for  saying  "  thee,"*  promised  to 
tutoyer  us  as  long  as  we  liked,  but  not  to  answer  to  thee. 
Coleridge  had  mentioned  to  him  as  one  of  the  attractions  of 
the  place  that  thou  was  spoken  here.  The  mutual  affection  of 
these  two  men  is  very  lovely.  Never  does  Moultrie  know  of 
Derwent  Coleridge  being  in  troubles  or  anxieties  but  down  he 
posts  to  share  them.  They  give  a  very  poor  account  of 
Southey.  On  his  bridal  tour  a  species  of  paralysis  of  the 
brain  came  on,  and  when  they  arrived  at  Keswick  Mrs. 
Southey  begged  his  daughter  to  retain  her  place  as  house- 
keeper, that  she  might  devote  herself  to  nursing  her  husband. 
The  family  are  delighted  with  her.  Whenever  they  want  his 
attention  they  have  to  rouse  him  out  of  a  sort  of  stupor. 

January  31. — L.  Dyke  was  in  the  church  at  Torquay  last 
Christmas  day,  when  a  modest  and  conscientious  clergyman 
did  duty  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop.  In  reading  the  com- 
munion service  he  substituted  "condemnation"  in  the  ex- 
hortation, "  He  that  eateth  or  drinketh  of  this  bread  and  this 
cup  unworthily,"  etc.  "Damnation  !"  screamed  the  bishop, 

*  Friends  in  familiar  converse  are  apt  to  use  thee  ungrammatically,  as  if  a 
nominative. 


60  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIEXDS. 

in  a  most  effective  manner,  to  the  undisguised  astonishment 
of  the  congregation. 

February  8. — Barclay  has  been  much  pleased  with  a  Mr. 
Sterling,  a  very  literary  man,  now  at  Falmouth,  who  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  S.  T.  Coleridge  during  the  latter  part  of 
his  life.  When  his  friends  were  around  him,  however  con- 
versation began,  Mn  Sterling  would  easily  bring  it  to  a 
serious  point,  and  launch  out  into  theological  disquisitions. 

One  of  the  most  delicious  non-sequiturs  that  I  ever  heard 
was  told  by  Leigh  Hunt,  where  a  cockney  declares,  "  A  mine 
of  silver  !  A  mine  of  silver !  I  have  seen  the  boys  and  girls 
playing  in  the  streets ;  but,  good  heavens,  I  never  even  heard 
of  a  mine  of  silver." 

Mrs.  Mill,  with  her  daughters,  Clara  and  Harriet,  have  been 
for  some  weeks  nursing  Henry  Mill,  who  is  dying  of  con- 
sumption in  lodgings  on  the  Terrace.  Mamma  and  Barclay 
have  both  seen  him,  and  speak  of  him  as  a  most  beautiful 
young  creature,  almost  ethereal  in  the  exquisite  delicacy  of 
his  outline  and  coloring,  and  with  a  most  musical  voice. 

February  10. — The  queen's  wedding-day.  Neck-ribands 
arrived,  with  Victoria  and  Albert  and  loves  and  doves  daintily 
woven  in.  Falmouth  very  gay  with  flags.  Mr.  Sterling 
called  ;  a  very  agreeable  man,  with  a  most  Lamb-liking  for 
town  life.  He  went  with  papa  to  Penjerrick. 

February  13. — To  Perran  Foundry  under  Aunt  Charles's 
guidance  ;  met  there  Derwent  Coleridge,  and  Barclay  brought 
John  Sterling  to  see  them  cast  fourteen  tons  of  iron  for  the 
beam  of  a  steam-engine.  This  was  indeed  a  magnificent 
spectacle,  and  induced  sundry  allusions  to  Vulcan's  forge  and 
other  classical  subjects.  The  absolute  agony  of  excitement 
displayed  by  R.  Cloke,  the  foreman,  was  quite  beautiful. 
John  Sterling  admired  his  energetic  countenance  amazingly, 
and  thought*  it  quite  the  type  of  the  characteristic  Cornish 
physiognomy,  which  he  considers  Celtic.  This  beam  was 
the  largest  they  had  ever  cast,  and  its  fame  had  attracted 
almost  the  whole  population  of  Perran,  who  looked  highly 
picturesque  by  the  light  of  the  liquid  iron.  My  regretting 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  6l 

that  we  had  no  chestnuts  to  employ  so  much  heat  which  was 
now  running  to  waste  induced  a  very  interesting  discourse 
from  Sterling,  first,  on  the  difference  between  utilitarianism 
and  utility,  then  on  the  sympathy  of  great  minds  with  each 
other,  however  different  may  be  the  tracks  they  select.  It  is 
folly  to  say  that  a  man  of  genius,  or  one  in  whom  moral 
philosophy  has  lighted  her  torch,  cannot,  if  he  would,  under- 
stand any  object  of  human  science.  As  an  extreme  demon- 
stration, you  might  as  well  assert  that  a  poet  could  not  learn 
the  multiplication  table.  Plato  and  Pythagoras  held  all 
philosophy  to  be  included  in  the  properties  of  numbers;  on 
the  other  hand,  Watt  was  a  great  novel-reader,  and  many 
others  had  similarly  involved  gifts.  D.  Coleridge  joined  us, 
and  we  continued  a  most  delectable  chat,  to  which  poetry 
was  added  by  the  last-comer.  The  triumph  of  machinery  is 
when  man  wonders  at  his  own  works ;  thus,  says  Coleridge, 
all  science  begins  in  wonder  and  ends  in  wonder,  but  the  first 
is  the  wonder  of  ignorance,  the  last  that  of  adoration.  Plato 
calls  God  the  great  Geometrician.  Sterling  exceedingly  ad- 
mires our  hostess's  face,  fancying  himself  in  company  with 
a  Grecian  statue,  and,  in  reference  to  the  mind  evolved  in 
her  countenance,  quoted  those  beautiful  lines  from  the  open- 
ing of  "  Comus," — 

"  Bright  aerial  spirits  live  unsphered 
Above  the  smoke  and  stir  of  this  dim  spot 
Which  men  call  earth  !" 

Surveyed  the  foundry,  almost  everything  eliciting  something 
worth  hearing  from  one  of  our  genii.  After  luncheon  we 
went  to  Barclay's  cottage,  looked  over  engravings,  and  list- 
ened to  Sterling's  masterly  criticisms  which  kept  almost  every 
one  silent.  Sitting  over  the  fire,  a  glorious  discussion  arose 
between  Coleridge  and  Sterling,  on  the  effect  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  Sterling  holding  that  under  its  dynasty 
men  became  infidels  from  detecting  the  errors  and  soph- 
istry and  not  caring  to  look  beyond,  whilst  women  became  su- 
perstitious because,  in  conformity  with  their  nature,  they  must 

6 


62  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIEXDS. 

prostrate  themselves  before  some  higher  power.  Coleridge 
contended  that  women  were  naturally  more  religious  and 
able  to  extract  something  good  from  everything.  We  had  to 
drive  off  and  leave  this  point  unsettled.  Spent  a  most  happy 
morning. 

February  16. — Saw  Dr.  Calvert*  for  the  first  time.  John 
Sterling  brought  him  in ;  a  nervous  suffering  invalid,  with 
an  interesting  and  most  mobile  expression  of  countenance. 
They  joined  mamrna  and  Anna  Maria  in  a  pony  ride,  and  left 
them  perfectly  enchanted  with  their  new  acquaintances.  He 
is  staying  at  Falmouth  on  account  of  ill  health.  We  after- 
wards had  a  delightful  walk  to  Budock.  Dr.  Calvert  described 
being  brought  up  as  a  Friend,  and  he  perfectly  remembers 
riding  on  a  little  Shetland  pony  to  be  christened.  He  is  very 
anxious  to  go  to  Meeting  on  the  first  favorable  opportunity, 
to  put  himself  in  a  position  to  prove  the  correctness  of  some 
of  those  tenets  of  Friends  which  he  has  been  interested  in 
studying.  Spoke  of  his  severe  illness  at  Rome  last  winter, 
brought  on  by  the  excitement  of  his  locality.  John  Sterling 
had  to  leave  him  on  account  of  his  baby's  death,  and  he  was 
brought  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  After  three  months'  resi- 
dence in  Rome,  he  was  carried  out  by  his  servant  in  a  blanket, 
but  he  added,  "  I  am  very  glad  that  I  was  brought  to  that 
state  of  lonely  wretchedness,  as  it  gives  me  confidence  that 
that  Providence  which  then  protected  and  consoled  me  will 
not  forsake  me  at  any  other  crisis."  He  is  still  in  very  weak 
health,  and  apparently  quite  resigned  to  this  trial. 

February  17. — Took  a  short  walk  with  Clara  Mill.  Her 
eldest  brother,  John  Stuart  Mill,  we  understand  from  Ster- 
ling, is  a  man  of  extraordinary  power  and  genius,  the  founder 
of  a  new  school  in  metaphysics,  and  a  most  charming  com- 
panion. 

February  18. — Little  visit  from  John  Sterling,  to  the  fag- 
end  of  which  I  became  a  witness.  The  talk  was  of  Irving, 


*  Carlyle  gives  much  interesting  detail  of  Dr.  Calvert  and  his  friendship  with 
John  Sterling  in  his  biography  of  the  latter. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  63 

who  came  up  to  town  with  a  magnificent  idea  of  being  like 
one  of  the  angels  in  the  Apocalypse  or  prophets  of  old :  had 
he  followed  out  this  idea  with  simplicity,  he  might  have  suc- 
ceeded, for  it  was  a  grand  one.  Chalmers  is  a  man  of  very 
inferior  genius,  but  by  working  out  his  more  modest  ideas 
and  directing  his  attention  to  the  good  of  others  rather  than 
to  his  own  fame,  he  has  been  much  more  useful.  Fine  ladies 
would  go  and  hear  Irving  just  as  they  would  to  see  Kean  or 
anything  good  of  its  class,  and  his  eloquence  was  singularly 
impassioned,  though,  through  all,  his  love  of  admiration  was 
distinguishable.  Sterling  holds  that  a  man's  besetting  sin  is 
the  means  employed  for  his  punishment :  thus  vanity  acted 
in  the  case  of  Irving.  Henry  Melvill  is  considered  the  most 
eloquent  clergyman  of  the  present  day,  but  of  him,  Stephen, 
son  of  the  abolitionist,  and  one  of  the  hardest-headed  men 
extant,  says  it  only  reminds  him  of  burning  blue  lights. 

Wilberforce  was  likewise  talked  over,  and  the  Clarkson  con- 
troversy. The  Wilberforce  party  quite  own  themselves  de- 
feated. When  Clarkson's  book  on  Slavery  came  out  some 
thirty  years  since,  Coleridge,  though  quite  unknown  to  the 
"Edinburgh  Review,"  wrote  to  Jeffrey,  described  Clarkson 
as  a  sincerely  good  man,  writing  with  a  worthy  object,  and 
therefore  begged  that  his  work,  though  abounding  with  lit- 
erary defects,  might  not  be  made  ridiculous  after  the  fashion 
of  the  "Edinburgh  Review."  Jeffrey  answered,  entirely 
agreeing  with  him,  and  requesting  him  to  undertake  the  work. 
This  he  did,  and  a  most  beautiful  piece  of  writing  it  is,  so 
different  from  the  jejune  spirit  in  which  the  "Edinburgh 
Review"  articles  are  generally  composed,  as  is  most  refresh- 
ing and  brings  you  quite  into  a  new  world.  Sydney  Smith's 
works  then  came  on  the  tapis ;  Sterling  considers  them  mere 
jest  books,  and,  though  quite  for  extending  the  license  of  the 
clergy,  would  not  favor  a  clergyman's  doing  what  a  man 
should  not  do,  referring  to  the  mince-meat  he  made  of 
Methodists  and  Evangelicals.  All  this  and  more ;  but  here 
I  shall  stop. 

February  19. — Violent  snow-storm   through  the  day.     In 


64  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

spite  of  it,  we  walked  with  John  Sterling  and  Clara  Mill  round 
Pennance ;  talked  first  of  the  education  of  the  mind  and  how 
to  train  it  to  reflection.  For  this,  he  would  recommend  the 
study  of  Bacon's  Essays,  Addison's  papers,  and  Milton's  tract 
on  Education,  and  Pensees  de  Pascal.  From  these  you  may 
collect  an  idea  of  the  true  end  of  life  ;  that  of  Bacon  was  to 
heap  together  facts,  whilst  Pascal's  was  to  make  conscience 
paramount.  He  considers  Bacon's  the  best  book  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  He  would  not  recommend  Milton's  polemic 
works  generally,  as  many  of  his  controversies  are  on  subjects 
which  have  drifted  away  on  the  sea  of  time.  Talked  over 
German  literature,  to  which  he  is  very  partial.  Of  Stilling 
he  told  that,  coming  into  a  table-d'hote  room,  all  the  young 
men  began  to  ridicule  his  gaunt  appearance,  but  a  dignified- 
looking  person  checked  them,  desiring  them  not  to  ill-treat  a 
stranger  till  they  had  ascertained  that  he  deserved  it.  This 
proved  to  be  Goethe.  He  was  on  many  occasions  very  kind 
to  Stilling,  to  whom  the  above  was  his  first  introduction,  and 
Stilling  was  heard  to  wonder  that  such  a  pagan  as  Goethe 
should  exercise  the  kindly  duties  of  nature  towards  him, 
when  his  own  mystical  brethren  were  content  to  leave  him  to 
his  fate.  Goethe  affected  to  detest  metaphysics  in  its  higher 
branches  ;  how  truly,  his  works  will  best  prove. 

Sterling  recommended  Lessing's  Fables  for  beginning  Ger- 
man, or  Schiller's  "Thirty  Years'  War."  He  is  himself,  he 
says,  condemned  to  idleness  both  of  mind  and  body,  without 
any  promise  of  being  in  the  end  restored  to  intellectual 
vigor,  which  he  feels  a  dreary  sentence.  All  his  clerical  duty 
was  performed  near  Eastbourne,  as  curate  to  Julius  Hare ; 
this  continued  but  seven  months,  when  his  health  drove  him 
from  the  active  duties  of  life.  Hare  possesses  a  wonderfully 
comprehensive  mind,  but  never  does  himself  justice, — leads 
a  recluse  life,  is  little  known,  and  has  a  very  unfortunate 
address.  He  is  one  of  our  best  German  scholars,  and  has  a 
glorious  German  library  ;  to  him  Sterling's  poems  are  dedi- 
cated. Spoke  of  the  mistake  many'  make  in  objecting  to  the 
explosion  of  a  favorite  fallacy,  or  displaying  the  inaccuracy 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  65 

of  a  beautiful  allusion  (or  illusion),  on  the  score  of  its  de- 
stroying beauty,  whereas  if  they  would  rather  search  for  truth 
than  beauty  they  would  always  find  the  latter  comprehended 
in  the  absolute  former.  He  occasionally  writes  in  "  Black- 
wood,"  though  disagreeing  in  politics. 

We  geologized  at  the  Elvan  course  and  scrambled  at  Pen- 
nance,  gave  Clara  Mill  a  thorough  insight  into  the  practica- 
bilities of  Cornish  miners,  and  returned  well  pleased  with 
our  expedition.  Discovered  many  mutual  friends. 

February  21. — Went  this  evening  to  a  lecture  written  by 
Sambell,  the  deaf  and  dumb  architect,  and  read  by  young 
Ellis.  It  was  a  good  lecture,  and  beautifully  illustrated, 
principally  by  subjects  of  Egyptian  architecture, — the  Pyra- 
mids, as  he  conceived  them  to  have  at  first  existed,  with  an 
obelisk  at  the  top,  the  temple  of  Isis,  Palmyra's  ruins,  Luxor, 
Elephanta  and  Ellora,  etc.  He  conceives  Solomon's  Song  of 
Loves  to  the  chief  musician  on  Higgcoth  should  be  translated 
lilies,  which  includes  a  delicate  compliment  to  his  Egyptian 
bride,  who  came  from  the  land  of  lilies,  and  referred  to  the 
custom  of  all  the  singing-women  wearing  a  lily  in  their  hair. 
The  Egyptians  have  a  legend  that  their  kingdom  and  monu- 
ments were  to  last  three  thousand  years,  and  accordingly 
built  for  that  period,  unlike  the  Babylonians,  who  cared  only 
for  the  present.  The  ruins  of  Palmyra  indicate,  by  the  beau- 
tiful surmountings  of  their  columns,  that  it  never  was  roofed 
in,  but  was  an  open  temple.  Next  autumn  he  means  to  give 
a  second  essay  on  architecture. 

February  22. — Took  Clara  Mill  a  nice  blowing  walk  ;  joined 
by  John  Sterling,  who  declared  himself  a  hero  of  romance, 
having  just  been  robbed  of  his  hat  by  ^Eolus,  who  forthwith 
drowned  it  in  Swanpool ;  he  tried  to  bribe  a  little  boy  to  go 
in  after  it,  but  he  excused  himself  upon  the  ground  of  not 
having  been  brought  up  to  the  water !  Our  talk  was  of  Sir 
Boyle  Roche,  the  bully  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  who  said  the 
most  queer  things,  and  made  the  most  egregious  bulls,  with, 
as  some  imagine,  a  deeper  meaning  than  he  would  confess 
to.  One  on  record  was,  wishing  to  say  something  civil  to  a 

6* 


66  MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

friend,  he  expressed  it  thus:  "I  hope  whenever  you  come 
within  ten  miles  of  my  house,  you'll  stay  there."  When 
Curran  (whose  private  character  was  none  of  the  best)  had  a 
dispute  on  some  occasion  with  another  Irish  M.P.,  and  it  was 
waxing  somewhat  warm,  honorable  members  interfered  to 
prevent  anything  unpleasant,  on  which  Curran  rose  and  de- 
clared that  he  was  the  guardian  of  his  own  honor.  Up  jumped 
Roche  with,  "Mr.  Speaker!"  "Order,  order."  "  But,  Mr. 
Speaker — "  "Order;  Mr.  Curran  is  speaking."  "But, 
Mr.  Speaker,  I  only  wanted  to  congratulate  Mr.  Curran  on 
his  sinecure  !"  Then  many  details  of  the  Irish  Parliament, 
of  which  Sterling's  grandfather  and  great-grandfather  were 
clerks.  Those  were  the  days  of  claret  and  conversation,  and 
he  spoke  of  one  of  the  Speakers  who  always  kept  a  straw- 
berry at  the  bottom  of  his  glass,  and  declared  in  the  inter- 
vals between  his  first  and  seventh  bottle  that  his  physician 
ordered  him  to  do  so  to  keep  the  system  cool !  Grattan 
followed :  his  son  makes  the  dullest  speeches  in  the  House. 
O'Connell's  pathos  on  all  occasions  is  the  same  ;  it  is  his 
perseverance  and  impudence,  and  the  justice  of  his  cause, 
that  makes  him  the  celebrated  man  he  is.  Macaulay's  speeches 
are  too  much  of  essays  for  the  House.  He  is  the  demigod 
of  rhetoric,  but  often  forgets  his  own  argument  and  uses 
reasoning  diametrically  opposed  to  it.  He  is  too  much  de- 
voted to  quickly  effective  strokes  and  practical  aims  to  be  a 
philosopher,  not  caring  to  get  at  the  principles  of  things  if 
he  can  but  produce  an  effect.  His  critique  on  Bacon,  which 
so  electrified  the  world  a  short  time  since,  is  very  incorrect 
in  its  representation  of  his  philosophy;  it  appears  to  him  to 
have  been  only  a  collecting  of  facts  with  the  object  of  making 
them  practically  useful,  utterly  eschewing  all  diving  into  the 
real  essences  and  immutable  principles  of  things,  thus  rob- 
bing him  of  the  character  of  a  philosopher  :  it  was  altogether, 
says  Sterling,  a  brilliant  falsehood.  Macaulay's  memory  is 
prodigious.  A  great  deal  more  transpired,  but  this  is  enough 
for  the  present. 

February  23. — Directly  after  breakfast,  Sterling  and  Dr.  Cal- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  67 

vert  called  to  challenge  us  to  a  walk.  Collected  Clara,  and 
Catharine  Lyne,  and  Bobby  (the  pony),  and  sallied  forth  to 
Budock  Rocks,  and  a  great  deal  of  interesting  conversation 
made  our  time  pass  like  "Grecian  life-fulness,"  with  very 
little  intervals  for  the  experience  of  "Indian  life-weariness." 
Sterling  says  that  Campbell  is  a  man  who  more  than  any 
other  has  disappointed  him  in  society, — sitting  in  a  corner 
and  saying  nothing.  Coleridge  is  best  described  in  his  own 
words : 

"  His  flashing  eye  !  his  floating  hair! 

Weave  a  circle  round  him  thrice, 
And  close  your  eyes  with  holy  dread, 
For  he  on  honey-dew  hath  fed, 

And  drunk  the  milk  of  paradise." 

John  Sterling  wrote  the  following  impromptu  to  me  by  way 
of  autograph : 

"  What  need  to  write  upon  your  book  a  name 
Which  is  not  written  in  the  book  of  fame  ? 
Believe  me,  she  to  reason  calmly  true, 
Though  far  less  kind,  is  far  more  just  than  you." 

JOHN  STERLING. 

He  dined  with  us.  Thorough  good  conversation  on  the 
Catholics ;  German  literature  ;  intellectual  and  mundane  rank 
compared  ;  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who,  when  in  the  My- 
sore, was  considered  unequal  to  the  charge  of  a  regiment, 
but  in  some  mighty  action  thereaway  showed  his  wondrous 
power  in  animating  masses.  Sterling  is  taking  up  geology  as 
a  counter-current  for  his  mind  to  flow  in,  a  subject  so  far  re- 
moved from  humanity  that  he  considers  it  one  of  the  least 
interesting  of  human  sciences.  The  nearer  you  approach 
humanity,  the  more  the  subject  increases  in  interest.  Papa 
and  he  settled  down  to  the  artificial  veins,  which  he  is  very 
anxious  to  understand,  then  he  joined  us  in  a  capital  game  of 
Question  and  Noun.  One  of  his  questions  was,  "How  can 
you  distinguish  between  nature  and  art  in  the  complexion  of 
a  negro  chimney-sweeper?"  He  brought  me  some  charming 
autographs  of  Hare,  Carlyle,  Milnes,  and  others. 


68  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

February  24. — Sterling,  Calvert,  Anna  Maria,  and  I  took 
Clara  out.  She  spoke  of  Sterling  having  been  invaluable  to 
them,  and  can  quite  fancy  him  reading  prayers  with  old 
women,  from  what  they  have  lately  known  of  his  most  feeling 
nature.  Sterling  on  Napoleon  remarked,  "  II  a  la  tete  grande 
mais  1'ame  etroite,"  which  some  would  apply  to  Byron,  but 
he  thinks  unjustly,  as  he  possessed  a  fine  mind  and  very  deep 
emotions,  but  altogether  diseased,  such  ostentatious  vanity 
running  throughout ;  he  never  forgot  his  rank,  and  had  that 
peculiar  littleness  of  extreme  sensibility  to  the  least  and  lowest 
ridicule  from  even  the  obscurest  quarter.  Wordsworth  he 
considers  the  first  of  the  modern  English  poets  ;  Shelley  the 
complete  master  of  impassioned  feeling,  and  such  an  instinc- 
tive knowledge  of  music  :  Harmony  ever  waited  his  beck  and 
loved  to  cherish  and  crown  her  idolatrous  son.  Talked  about 
Friends  :  we  are  the  first  he  ever  encountered  ;  he  had  formed 
a  very  incorrect  notion  of  them,  conceiving  that  they  never 
smiled, — a  slight  mistake.  Thinks  that  the  ladies  of  the 
Society  must  very  often  marry  out  of  the  bounds  ;  thinks  it  a 
grievous  thing  for  husband  and  wife  to  be  of  different  religious 
sentiments, — not,  however,  to  be  compared  to  the  horrors  of 
a  union  between  Catholic  and  Protestant,  the  former  imagin- 
ing the  latter  to  be  lost  irremediably.  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land expressly  acknowledges  her  fallibility,  which  reconciles 
her  members  to  take  refuge  under  her  wing  with  just  a  general 
assent  to  her  doctrines.  The  Church  of  Rome  was  peculiarly 
adapted  for  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  people  had  not  got  to 
a  state  beyond  being  guided  by  others ;  and  the  priesthood, 
he  conceives,  was  the  best  guide.  He  particularly  recom- 
mends Keightley's  "  History  of  Rome,"  which  gives  many 
new  views  on  old  subjects,  such  as,  that  the  plebeians  were  not 
the  mob  of  Rome,  but  a  distinct  class,  for  the  time  degraded, 
but  ever  desirous  and  striving  to  break  their  fetters.  As  we 
neared  home,  Bobby  got  his  bit  out  of  his  mouth,  and  it  was 
delicious  to  see  the  ignorance  of  common  things  manifested 
by  our  transcendentalists.  "  You'd  better  let  him  go  :  he'll 
find  his  way  home,"  said  Sterling,  with  a  laudable  knowledge 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  69 

of  natural  history  and  a  confused  recollection  of  the  instinct 
of  brutes.  We,  thinking  it  would  go  probably  to  Kergillick, 
thought  it  best  to  lead  him  :  so  Sterling  took  his  forelock,  and 
I  his  tail,  and  marched  the  little  kicking  beast  homeward. 
"  Calvert,  just  put  the  bit  in  his  mouth,  can't  you?  it's  very 
easy."  "  Oh,  yes,  perfectly  easy,"  said  Calvert ;  "  do  you  do 
it,  Sterling." 

February  25. — Sterling  sat  by  the  fireside  and  read  some 
of  Coleridge  in  his  own  manner,  very  rhythmical,  but  some- 
what monotonous.  Dr.  Calvert  and  Barclay  wandered  in,  and 
at  last  we  all  wandered  out,  on  a  day  made  for  basking,  and 
we  so  employed  it  on  the  rocks.  The  raised  beach  and  the 
arch  much  admired  ;  a  pastille  to  be  burned  before  Anna 
Maria  to  propitiate  her  into  a  sketch.  Ontology  talked  of: 
"  I  suppose  there  are  only  about  five  hundred  persons  in  the 
country  who  have  the  faintest  idea  of  this  science,"  said 
Sterling.  Mathematics  a  step  towards  metaphysics  ;  if  the 
first  cannot  be  mastered,  you  have  not  the  least  chance  of  reach- 
ing the  second.  Talked  about  music  as  a  language  addressed 
directly  to  the  feelings,  which  they  can  understand  without 
calling  up  any  corresponding  image.  When  they  took  Dr. 
Dalton  into  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  had  the  great 
organ  played,  he  exclaimed,  after  a  few  moments  of  profound 
thought,  "What  a  remarkable  echo  is  thrown  from  the  floor  !" 
Sterling  has  no  sympathy  with  his  method  of  reducing 
emotions  to  formulae.  Dr.  Calvert  had  wretched  tooth- 
ache, and  talked  little ;  spoke  of  his  pleasure  in  seeing  the 
true  levelling  principle,  sea-sickness,  triumphant  over  all 
Sterling's  philosophy,  and  reducing  him  to  a  situation  below 
humanity ! 

February  26. — John  Sterling  and  Dr.  Calvert  strolled  in  at 
breakfast ;  on  a  something  being  offered  to  the  latter,  he  said, 
"  No,  I'll  do  anything  with  my  friends  but  eat  with  them. 
I'll  quarrel  as  much  as  they  like,  but  never  eat  with  them." 
Something  or  other  induced  him  to  say,  "  I  conceive  mankind 
to  be  divided  into  men,  women,  and  doctors, — the  latter  a 
sort  of  hybrid."  A  spirited  argument  on  capital  punishments 


70       •  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

ended  in  John  Sterling's  hope  that  if  ever  he  committed 
murder  he  should  be  hanged,  and  Dr.  Calvert's  that  he  should 
be  mad  before  rather  than  after  the  solitary  confinement. 

A  delightful  Pennance  and  Penrose  walk  with  the  two  gentle- 
men, everything  looking  glorious  in  the  sunshine  of  reality 
and  imagination.  Dr.  Calvert  talked  about  the  fine  arts ;  he 
cannot  remember  the  names  of  the  painters,  but  only  the 
principles  evolved  in  their  works.  Those  before  the  time  of 
Raphael  interest  him  the  most,  for  though  very  defective  in 
drawing  they  yet  evidently  labor  to  enforce  a  genuine  Idea. 
Since  Raphael's  time  the  execution  is  often  exquisite,  but  the 
Idea  seems  to  him  to  have  vanished.  He  talked  on  politics, 
and  sympathizes  most  with  the  philosophical  Radicals,  who 
think  it  right  to  throw  their  weight  into  the  scale  of  the 
weak, — with  those  who  advocate  progression  ;  yet  he  would 
be  very  sorry  to  see  their  measures  now  carried  into  practice. 
They  would  put  power  into  the  hands  of  those  who  would 
doubtless  at  first  abuse  it ;  but  experience  would  gradually 
bring  things  right,  and  keep  real  Conservatism  in  existence. 
Of  the  Princess  Galitzin,  who  gave  over  her  moral  govern- 
ment into  the  hands  of  her  confessor,  Overburg,  she  repre- 
sents a  large  class  in  England  who  put  their  consciences  into 
the  keeping  of  others — a  favorite  clergyman,  for  instance — 
and  let  reason  and  conscience  bow  before  authority.  This 
must  interfere  with  living  faith,  for  having  a  sort  of  inter- 
mediate agent  between  man  and  his  God  destroys  the  sense  of 
real  immediate  dependence  on  him.  Then  God  casts  down 
your  idols,  and  wills  that  you  should  exert  for  yourself  that 
reason  which  he  has  given  to  be  an  active,  not  a  merely  pas- 
sive, principle,  in  man.  You  must  analyze  your  faith  before 
you  can  combine  its  truths,  and  so  make  every  point  the  sub- 
ject of  your  own  convictions,  and  further  the  progressive 
state  which  it  is  the  divine  will  that  man  should  experience. 
This  may  probably  involve  you  in  intense  suffering  ;  but  go 
on  in  faith  and  faithfulness.  Dr.  Calvert  has  a  sister,  of  whom 
he  is  very  fond,  who  devotes  herself  to  charitable  objects. 
Sometimes,  when  he  has  been  going  on  philosophizing  at  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  71 

great  rate,  she  stops  him  with,  "  Well,  if  I  understand  you 
right,  what  you  mean  is  just  this;"  and  then  she'll  mention 
an  English  truth,  perhaps  a  very  trite  one,  and  he  is  obliged 
to  acknowledge,  "  Yes,  it  is  just  that." 

February  27. — A  walk  and  ride  to  Penjerrick,  which  looked 
eminently  lovely  basking  in  the  sunshine.  Sterling  was,  as 
usual,  our  life;  so  I'll  try  to  remember  some  of  the  heads 
of  his  talk.  Well,  at  Tregedna  we  all  sat  down  and  listened 
like  sensible  people.  His  talk  was  of  the  Jesuits,  who  are 
governed  by  a  Superior  always  obliged  to  reside  in  Rome. 
The  present  incumbent  is  a  Dutchman.  The  order  has  risen 
to  the  height  of  veneration  in  Rome  from  their  devoted  con- 
duct during  the  cholera,  nursing  the  sick  indefatigably  as  an 
act  of  faith  and  effect  of  their  principles.  All  the  scholars 
at  their  schools  have  daily  registers  kept  of  every  particular 
in  their  character  and  conduct,  which  is  annually  sent  to  the 
Superior;  thus  those  who  would  join  the  brotherhood  are 
often  astounded  at  the  knowledge  he  shows  of  their  private 
history ;  and  this  knowledge  is  a  powerful  agent  in  his  hands. 
No  deep  or  original  thinkers  have  ever  sprung  from  this  order, 
freedom  of  thought  is  so  at  variance  with  their  principles  and 
discouraged  by  their  Superiors ;  their  clever  men  are  gener- 
ally great  bibliologists,  and  addicted  to  the  physical  sciences. 
When  Coleridge  was  in  Rome  in  1815,  a  friend  of  his,  a 
cardinal  and  one  of  the  Piccolomini  family  (of  Wallenstein 
notoriety),  came  to  him  one  night,  and  said,  "Get  up  and 
dress  yourself,  and  jump  into  the  carriage  that's  waiting."  In 
vain  did  the  soporific  transcendentalist  demand  the  reason  ; 
he  was  to  dress  first  and  know  after.  It  then  seemed  that 
Bonaparte  had  written  an  order  to  the  Pope  to  take  up  all  the 
thirty  or  forty  English  then  in  Rome  and  put  them  in  prison 
until  further  orders.  Coleridge  was  to  be  sent  direct  to  Paris, 
because  he  had  written  in  the  "  Morning  Post"  some  articles 
very  offensive  to  Napoleon's  dignity.  Only  a  day  and  a  half 
were  allowed  for  the  execution  of  the  order,  so  the  Pope  told 
the  cardinal,  "  If  you  can  get  your  friend  Coleridge  out  of 
the  place  to-night,  you  may  ;  but,  guarded  all  round  by  French 


7  2  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

as  I  am,  I  cannot  longer  protect  him."  Accordingly,  Cole- 
ridge was  despatched  as  an  attache  to  Cardinal  Fesch,  and 
was  mightily  amused  at  the  great  respect  shown  him  through- 
out the  journey.  On  reaching  Genoa,  he  so  delighted  an 
American  by  his  conversation,  who  had  never  heard  anything 
like  it  since  he  left  Niagara,  that  at  all  risks,  and  with  many 
subtleties,  he  got  him  on  board,  and  brought  him  safe  to 
England.  This  S.  T.  Coleridge  never  mentioned  in  his 
"  Biographia  Literaria."  Sterling  and  I  walked  home  to- 
gether. Talked  much  about  Friends;  analyzed  and  admired 
many  of  their  principles ;  discussed  learned  ladies.  Talked 
over  Bentham's  and  Coleridge's  philosophy,  and  Mill's  admir- 
able review.  When  a  certain  conceited  peer,  who  professed 
the  right  of  appearing  before  royalty  with  his  hat  on,  actually 
took  advantage  of  it  and  appeared  hatted  at  a  Drawing-room, 
George  III.  said,  "It  is  true,  my  lord,  that  you  may  wear 
your  hat  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  but  it  is  not  usual  to 
wear  it  in  the  presence  of  ladies,"  at  which  he  appeared  much 
confounded. 

February  28. — Found  Sterling  at  Perran,  where  he  had 
spent  the  last  day  or  two.  On  hearing  the  bad  account  of 
Henry  Mill,  a  struggle  between  duty  and  inclination  took 
place,  and  the  former  triumphed.  Though  he  felt  that  he 
could  not  be  of  the  least  real  use,  he  thought  his  presence 
might  possibly  be  some  comfort ;  and  we  accompanied  him 
some  part  of  the  way.  We  brought  him  his  letters.  So  he 
went  away,  and  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  our  uncle 
and  aunt  quite  as  enthusiastic  about  him  as  we  could  wish, 
observing  that  though  we  had  had  no  outward  sunshine,  yet 
there  had  been  abundance  of  sunshine  within. 

February  29. — Sterling  came  and  walked  with  us  to  Pen- 
nance  Cave  on  a  day  as  brilliant  as  his  own  imagination. 
Some  of  our  subjects  were  the  doctrine  of  providential  inter- 
ference and  the  efficacy  of  prayer  as  involved  in  this  question. 
His  view  of  prayer  is  that  you  have  no  right  to  pray  for  any 
outward  manifestations  of  divine  favor,  but  for  more  con- 
formity of  heart  to  God,  and  more  desire  after  the  imitation 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  73 

of  Christ.  He  would  not,  however,  dogmatize  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  would  that  every  one  should  act  in  this  matter  (as 
in  every  other)  according  to  conscience.  He  views  sincerity 
as  the  grand  point ;  and  a  sincere,  however  erroneous,  search 
after  truth  will  be  reviewed  with  indulgence  by  the  Father  of 
spirits.  Spinoza  is  an  illustrious  example,  a  truly  good,  con- 
scientious, honest  man,  who  recognized  a  Deity  in  everything 
around  him,  but  omitted  in  his  system  the  idea  of  a  presiding 
and  creating  God.  A  long,  interesting,  and  eloquent  sum- 
mary of  the  opinions  of  the  Pusey  party;  the  question  first 
arising  was,  "Where  shall  we  find  an  infallible  rule  of  con- 
duct?" The  answer  was,  "In  the  life  of  Christ."  Then, 
"  Where  is  this  most  clearly  developed?"  "In  the  gospel, 
and  the  writings  of  those  immediately  succeeding  that  period." 
This  brought  them  to  the  Fathers,  who,  though  abounding  in 
error,  are  thus  made  the  infallible  exponents  of  the  Christian 
religion.  He  is  exceedingly  delighted  with  Uncle  Charles, 
and  has  been  writing  enthusiastically  to  his  wife  about  him 
and  Perran  and  all :  he  says  he  never  spent  happier  days  in 
his  life.  Gave  many  details  of  his  experience  of  the  Roman 
Carnival,  whose  origin  was  a  rejoicing  in  the  few  last  days 
when  meat  was  allowed  before  the  great  dearth  of  Lent.  He 
would  always  trust  to  the  practical  judgments  of  women,  and 
thinks  it  the  greatest  mistake  and  perversion  to  educate  them 
in  the  same  manner  as  men :  they  have  a  duty  equally  clear 
and  equally  important  to  perform,  but  quite  distinct.  He 
has  been  reading  Talfourd's  Lamb  (in  consequence  of  my 
recommendation — Hem  !),  and  has  been  perfectly  delighted, 
and  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  letters  are  better 
than  Cowper's,  and  his  essays  than  Addison's.  Oh  !  there 
was  such  a  vast  deal  more  !  I  trust  it  remains  in  some  meas- 
ure in  the  spirit,  though  lost  in  the  letter. 

March  i. — Sterling  and  Clara  called,  and  I  joined  them  in 
a  famous  walk.  Reviewed  the  poets,  with  occasional  illus- 
trations well  painted.  Shelley's  emotions  and  sympathies  not 
drawn  forth  by  actual  human  beings,  but  by  the  creations  of 
his  own  fancy,  by  his  own  ideal  world,  governed  by  his  own 
i)  7 


74 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


unnatural  and  happily  ideal  system.  This  species  of  egotism 
very  different  to  Byron's,  who  recognized  and  imprinted 
George  Gordon,  Lord  Byron,  on  every  page.  Shelley  frag- 
mentary in  all  his  pieces,  but  has  the  finest  passages  in  the 
language.  Wordsworth  works  from  reflection  to  impulse; 
having  wound  up  to  a  certain  point,  he  feels  that  an  emo- 
tion is  necessary,  and  inserts  one, — the  exact  converse  of  the 
usual  and  right  method.  Coleridge  had  no  gift  for  drawing 
out  the  talent  of  others,  which  Madame  de  Stae'l  possessed  in 
an  eminent  degree.  She  was  by  no  means  pleased  with  her 
intercourse  with  him,  saying,  spitefully  and  feelingly,  "  M. 
Coleridge  a  un  grand  talent  pour  le  monologue."  She  would 
just  draw  out  from  people  the  information  she  required,  which 
her  champagne  and  her  wit  never  failed  to  do,  and  then  let 
them  return  to  their  dusty  garrets  for  the  remainder  of  their 
existence  and  live  on  the  remembrance  of  an  hour's  beatitude. 
Sterling  considers  the  female  authors  we  have  lately  had  very 
creditable  to  this  country,  though  they  have  produced  nothing 
that  the  world  could  not  have  done  very  well  without.  Mrs. 
Carlyle  the  most  brilliant  letter-writer  he  has  met  with. 

March  2. — Found  John  Sterling  waiting  to  challenge  us  to 
a  walk;  so  with  this  right  pleasant  addition  we  went  to  Grill, 
collected  money  and  ideas,  the  former  to  the  amount  of  one 
shilling  and  fourpence,  the  latter  to  an  extent  irreducible  to 
formulae,  so  I'll  barely  glimpse  at  anything  therewith  con- 
nected. Talked  about  eloquence,  of  which  he  thinks  Jeremy 
Taylor  the  greatest  master;  he  had  enough  genius  to  ennoble 
a  dozen  families  of  the  same  name.  It  is  very  odd  that  so 
few  of  our  great  men  should  have  left  any  sons, — Taylor, 
Shakespeare,  Milton,  etc.  Talked  over  Coleridge;  "The 
Friend"  his  best  prose  work;  a  terrible  plagiarist  in  writing 
and  conversation.  Particularly  addicted  to  Schlegel.  De- 
scribed Dr.  Calvert's  character  beautifully  as  one  of  pure 
sympathy  with  all  his  fellows,  who  delights  to  trace  the  out- 
lines of  the  divine  image  in  even  the  least  of  his  creatures. 
Talked  over  the  mental  differences  between  the  sexes,  which 
he  considers  precisely  analogous  to  their  physical  diversities, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  75 

her  dependence  upon  him, — he  the  creative,  she  the  receptive 
power. 

March  3. — Invited  Sterling  for  this  evening,  preparatory  to 
a  visit  to  Kynance ;  and  he  came,  and  we  had  a  pretty  even- 
ing of  it.  Now  for  my  notes.  Socratic  irony,  common 
irony,  but  employed  by  Socrates  against  the  Sophists  for  the 
purpose  of  ridiculing  pompous  error  and  eliciting  simple  truth. 
On  physiognomy.  He  conceives  that  the  features  express  the 
type  of  character,  the  forehead  its  force,  compass,  and  energy. 
Lord  Herbert,  brother  to  the  poet,  a  refined  Deist,  but  incon- 
sistent ;  he  wrote  a  book  utterly  denying  signs  and  miracles, 
and  then  prayed  that  he  might  be  assured  whether  or  no  it 
was  right  to  publish  it  by  some  trifling  sign,  he  thinks  it  was 
of  a  bit  of  paper  blowing  in  or  out  of  the  window.  The 
sculptor  Canova  an  accurate  depicter  of  a  certain  low  species 
of  nature,  voluptuous,  addressed  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
animal  part  of  our  nature.  Flaxman  the  head  of  English  art. 
Chantry's  power  in  physiognomy  wondrous  in  busts  and  like- 
nesses, but  no  poetry  or  composition  ;  he  can't  arrange  a 
single  figure  decently.  Stothard  gave  the  design  for  the  Lich- 
field  Cathedral  monument.  Thorwaldsen  one  of  the  greatest 
geniuses  and  clearest  intellects  in  Europe.  When  engaged 
over  his  Vulcan,  one  of  his  friends  said  to  him,  "  Now,  you 
must  be  satisfied  with  this  production."  "Alas!"  said  the 
artist,  "I  am."  "Why  should  you  regret  it?"  asked  his 
friend.  "  Because  I  must  be  going  down-hill  when  I  find  my 
works  equal  to  my  aspirations."  Talked  enthusiastically  about 
his  friend  Julius  Hare ;  invites  us  to  meet  him  at  Clifton  this 
summer.  Spoke  of  a  coach-journey  with  Landor,  who  was 
travelling  incognito,  but  made  himself  known  by  the  strange 
paradoxical  style  of  conversation  in  which  he  indulged  ;  this 
wound  Sterling  gradually  up  to  the  point  of  certainty,  and  he 
said,  "Why,  this  sounds  amazingly  like  an  Imaginary  Con- 
versation." He  just  started  at  this  remark,  but  covered  his 
retreat.  He  afterwards  met  him  at  one  of  Hare's  breakfasts, 
and  got  into  a  hot  dispute  with  him  and  a  Frenchman  con- 
cerning the  Evangelicals,  whom  they  were  running  down  most 


76  MEMORIES   OF   OLD   FRIENDS. 

unfairly;  so  he  supported  their  cause,  showing  that  there  was 
much  good  in  them.  Talked  of  Lamb;  one  idea  evolved  in 
a  letter  would  have  stamped  him  a  man  of  genius :  he  specu- 
lates on  the  feelings  of  a  man  in  the  lowest  state  of  servile 
degradation,  to  whom  the  thought  suddenly  came  that  he 
might  revenge  himself  and  plunge  those  who  he  fancied  had 
oppressed  him,  in  ruin  and  death  by  setting  fire  to  their  habi- 
tation. Bacon's  idea  finely  commented  upon,  that  whilst  the 
whole  physical  universe  underwent  a  change,  no  stream  of 
time  could  wash  out  one  of  Homer's  poems.  He  and  papa 
had  a  very  spirited  argument  on  the  progress  of  civilization 
since  the  Christian  era.  Papa  contended  that  there  were  in- 
tervals when  it  retrograded ;  the  other,  that  there  was  a  con- 
stant zigzag  progress.  The  Crusades  Sterling  considers  a 
convincing  proof  of  the  reality  of  their  belief  and  faith  in 
the  Christian  religion ;  and  in  carrying  them  on  they  acted 
up  to  the  lights  they  had.  We  of  the  nineteenth  century 
should  place  ourselves  in  their  circumstances  before  judging 
of  the  right  or  wrong  of  conduct,  as  standards  alter  so  ma- 
terially with  time.  Papa  showed  him  the  Polytechnic  medal 
with  Watt's  head,  when  he  wrote  the  following  lines  on  a 
slip  of  paper  and  handed  them  to  me : 

"  I  looked  upon  a  steam-engine,  and  thought, 

'Tis  strange  that,  when  the  engineer  is  dead, 
A  copy  of  his  brains,  in  iron  wrought, 

Should  thus  survive  the  archetypal  head." 

March  5. — Dr.  Calvert  joined  us;  we  did  not  at  first 
recognize  him,  as  he  was  mightily  muffled  up,  which  he  ac- 
counted for  by  remarking,  "  Why,  inside  I'm  Dr.  Calvert, 
but  outside  certainly  Mr.  Sterling,"  being  enveloped  in  a 
cloak  of  that  gentleman's.  He  is  tenderly  watching  over 
Henry  Mill  from  time  to  time,  who  is  fast  fading  from  the  eyes 
of  those  who  love  him. 

March  15. — Mamma  had  an  interesting  little  interview  with 
Henry  Mill,  and  took  him  a  bunch  of  bignonia  sempervirens ', 
which  he  exceedingly  admired,  and  thanked  her  warmly  for  all 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  77 

the  little  kindnesses  that  had  been  shown  him.  He  peculiarly 
enjoys  looking  into  the  flowers,  and  wanted  to  have  them 
explained,  so  we  sent  him  Lindley  as  a  guide.  Mamma  led 
the  conversation  gradually  into  a  rather  more  serious  channel, 
and  Henry  Mill  told  Clara  afterwards  that  her  kind  manner, 
her  use  of  the  words  "  thee"  and  "  thou,"  and  her  allusions 
to  religious  subjects  quite  overcame  him,  and  he  was  on  the 
point  of  bursting  into  tears.  She  gave  him  a  hymn-book,  and 
Clara  marked  one  which  she  specially  recommended, — "As 
thy  day,  thy  strength  shall  be."  For  the  last  few  evenings 
they  have  read  him  a  psalm  or  some  other  part  of  Scripture. 

March  16. — His  eldest  brother  John  is  now  come,  and 
Clara  brought  him  to  see  us  this  morning.  He  is  a  very 
uncommon-looking  person, — such  acuteness  and  sensibility 
marked  in  his  exquisitely-chiselled  countenance,  more  resem- 
bling a  portrait  of  Lavater  than  any  other  that  I  remember. 
His  voice  is  refinement  itself,  and  his  mode  of  expressing 
himself  tallies  with  voice  and  countenance.  He  squeezed 
papa's  and  mamma's  hands  without  speaking,  and  afterwards 
warmly  thanked  them  for  kindnesses  received.  "  Every- 
thing," he  said,  "had  been  done  that  the  circumstances  of 
the  case  admitted."  Henry  received  him  with  considerable 
calmness,  and  has  at  intervals  had  deeply  interesting  and  re- 
lieving conversation  with  him.  On  Dr.  Bullmore's  coming  in 
he  sent  the  others  out  of  the  room,  and  asked  him  how  long 
he  thought  he  should  last.  "  Perhaps  till  the  morning,"  he 
answered.  When  the  morning  was  past  and  he  was  still  in  the 
body,  he  remarked  to  the  doctor,  "  I  wish  your  prophecy 
had  come  true." 

March  1 7. — Saw  John  Stuart  Mill  after  a  morning  spent  in 
his  brother's  room,  when  they  again  had  very  interesting  con- 
versation as  his  strength  permitted,  particularly  in  giving  many 
directions  about  his  younger  brother  and  sister,  which  from 
his  own  experience  he  thinks  may  prove  useful  to  them. 
Indeed,  his  brother  says,  "  We  have  all  we  could  desire  of 
comfort  in  seeing  him  in  this  most  tranquil,  calm,  composed, 
happy  state."  He  begs  me  to  keep  them  informed  of  any 

7* 


78  MEMORIES   OF   OLD  FRIENDS. 

autographs  I  wish  to  have,  as  he  has  great  facilities  for  getting 
them.     To-day  he  was  to  have  met  Guizot  at  the  Grotes'. 

March  20. — J.  S.  Mill  says  that  Henry  has  passed  another 
tranquil  night ;  he  delights  in  everything  that  speaks  of  life, 
watching  the  boys  at  play  and  the  men  with  their  telescopes, 
and  sympathizing  with  all.  Cunningham  is  taking  a  likeness 
of  him,  and  trying  to  convey  some  sense  of  the  beauty,  refine- 
ment, and  sentiment  of  the  original.  He  was  a  good  deal 
fatigued  by  the  exertion  of  sitting.  John  Mill  speaks  thank- 
fully of  the  tissue  of  circumstances  which  had  located  them 
here  :  among  others,  he  said,  was  the  pleasure  of  making  John 
Sterling  and  us  known  to  each  other ;  for,  said  he,  it  is  very 
delightful  to  introduce  those  who  will  appreciate  each  other. 
He  talked  enthusiastically  of  him;  I  remarked  on  his  writing 
being  much  more  obscure  and  involved  than  his  conversation 
even  on  deep  subjects.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "in  talking  you 
address  yourself  to  the  particular  state  of  mind  of  the  person 
with  whom  you  are  conversing,  but  in  writing  you  speak  as  it 
were  to  an  ideal  object."  "And  then,"  said  I,  "you  can't 
ask  a  book  questions;"  which,  I  was  proud  to  be  informed, 
was  what  Plato  had  said  before  me,  and  on  that  ground  ac- 
counted books  of  little  value,  and  always  recommended  dis- 
cussions. "  Certainly,"  he  added,  "  it  is  of  little  use  to  read 
if  you  can  form  ideas  of  your  own"  (I  suppose  he  meant  on 
speculative  subjects),  "  but  there  is  an  exquisite  delight  in 
meeting  with  a  something  in  the  ideas  of  others  answering  to 
anything  in  your  own  self-consciousness  ;  then  you  make  the 
idea  your  own  and  never  lose  it."  He  is  a  great  botanist,  so 
Anna  Maria  excited  him  about  the  luminous  moss  found  in  the 
cave  at  Argols;  he  informed  us  that  the  nature  of  all  phos- 
phoric lights  is  yet  unknown,  but  it  is  generally  believed  to  be 
an  emission  of  light  borrowed  from  the  sun.  We  made  a 
walking  party  to  Pendennis  Cavern,  with  which  they  were  all 
delighted.  Sterling  is  charmed  with  Elia's  Quakers'  Meeting. 
Talked  about  Crabbe's  one-sided  pictures  of  life,  inferior  to 
"  Boz."  A  critique  on  the  arts  :  he  cannot  bear  the  coloring 
of  the  Bolognese  school ;  likes  distinct,  broad,  decided  color- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  79 

ing ;  mentioned  a  curious  case  of  an  amateur  who  was  col- 
lecting pictures  of  animals,  and  bought  one,  which,  upon 
examination,  he  found  scrapable  ;  he  scraped  and  developed 
a  Correggio,  which  is  considered  something  first-rate,  the  sub- 
ject a  Magdalene.  Those  of  whom  he  purchased  it  for  a  mere 
trifle  brought  an  action  against  him,  declaring  that  they  did 
not  sell  a  Correggio,  but  only  the  inferior  painting.  He 
thought  we  had  better  have  the  passage  in  the  cavern 
excavated,  "as  you  may  very  likely  find  the  Regalia,  for 
Charles  II.  was  a  very  careless  fellow." 

J.  S.  Mill  proposed  leaving  the  lighted  candles  there  as  an 
offering  to  the  gnomes.  He  was  full  of  interesting  talk.  A 
ship  in  full  sail  he  declared  the  only  work  of  man  that  under 
all  circumstances  harmonizes  with  Nature,  the  reason  being 
that  it  is  adapted  purely  to  natural  requirements.  Of  the 
infinite  ideas  the  ancients  had  of  the  world  we  do  inhabit, 
and  how  they  are  limited  and  exactly  defined  by  modern  dis- 
coveries; however,  it  still  remains  for  you  to  look  above,  and 
there  is  Infinity.  The  whole  material  universe  small  com- 
pared to  the  guileless  heart  of  a  little  child,  because  it  can 
contain  it  all,  and  much  more.  Described  some  of  his  time 
in  Italy,  and  the  annoyances  experienced  from  the  narrow 
policy  of  the  Pope.  The  Roman  Catholic  religion  and 
customs  held  in  great  and  ever-increasing  contempt  among 
the  people.  When  the  Pope  bestowed  his  benediction  in  the 
Piazza,  only  the  official  people  took  off  their  hats,  which  was 
a  strong  symptom  of  public  opinion.  I  asked  what  they  had 
to  fall  back  upon  if  they  felt  such  contempt  for  the  faith  they 
professed.  This  he  said  he  could  only  speculate  on  ;  possibly 
the  spirit  of  Protestantism  would  be  infused  into  their  present 
faith,  or,  as  most  serious  Roman  Catholics  feel  and  acknowl- 
edge the  need  for  a  reform,  they  might  call  a  general  council. 
Speaking  of  the  women  in  France  being  those  who  kept  up 
the  appearance  of  religious  zeal  more  than  the  men,  he  in 
part  accounted  for  it  by  the  sort  of  premium  which  the  Bour- 
bons would  offer  on  regular  attendance  and  support  of  estab- 
lished forms.  This  induced  a  shrinking  from  the  service  in 


8o  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

the  stronger  minds  from  a  dread  of  the  imputation  of  hypoc- 
risy ;  and,  though  the  effect  is  bad,  the  cause  is  creditable 
to  human  nature.  Superstition  and  ceremony  are  the  last 
things  abandoned  in  a  departing  faith,  because  the  most 
obvious  and  connected  with  the  prejudices  of  the  people. 
Then  we  got  to  Luther  and  the  Reformers.  Luther  was  a 
fine  fellow;  but  what  a  moral  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  per- 
plexity and  unhappiness  of  his  latter  days  !  He  had  taught 
people  to  think  independently  of  their  instructors,  and  had 
imagined  that  their  opinions  would  all  conform  to  his;  when, 
however,  they  took  so  wide  and  various  a  scope,  he  was 
wretched,  considering  himself  accountable  for  all  their  aber- 
rations, and,  though  so  triumphant  in  his  reform,  shuddered 
at  the  commotion  he  had  made,  instead  of  viewing  it  as  the 
natural  and  necessary  result  of  the  emancipation  of  thought 
from  the  trammels  of  authority,  which  he  himself  had  intro- 
duced. "No  one,"  he  said,  with  deep  feeling,  "should  at- 
tempt anything  intended  to  benefit  his  age,  without  at  first 
making  a  stern  resolution  to  take  up  his  cross  and  to  bear  it. 
If  he  does  not  begin  by  counting  the  cost,  all  his  schemes 
must  end  in  disappointment;  either  he  will  sink  under  it,  as 
Chatterton,  or  yield  to  the  counter-current,  like  Erasmus,  or 
pass  his  life  in  disappointment  and  vexation,  as  Luther  did." 
This  was  evidently  a  process  through  which  he  (Mill)  had 
passed,  as  is  sufficiently  attested  by  his  careworn  and  anxious, 
though  most  beautiful  and  refined,  countenance.  He  sketched 
the  characters  of  some  of  the  Reformers  contemporary  with 
Luther.  Erasmus  sincerely  fancied  that  he  promoted  the  Re- 
formation by  that  bending  smoothness  of  deportment  and 
that  popularity  of  manner  which  characterized  him ;  this, 
indeed,  recommended  him  to  kings  and  emperors,  but  his 
friends  were  deeply  cut  by  his  flexibility  and  his  "  laisser 
faire"  principle.  Melanchthon's  vocation  was  not  to  be  a 
leader  in  any  great  movement,  but  to  be  a  faithful  follower 
to  the  last ;  and  this  he  truly  was  to  Luther.  Among  other 
great  contingent  effects  of  the  Reformation  was  the  influence 
it  had  on  the  German  language ;  Luther's  Bible  stamped  it, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  8l 

and  gave  it  a  force,  an  energy,  and  a  glory  with  which  it  has 
not  parted.  The  Bible  and  Shakespeare  have  done  more 
than  any  other  books  for  the  English  language,  introducing 
into  the  soul  of  it  such  grand  ideas  expressed  with  such  sub- 
lime simplicity. 

March  21. — At  breakfast  Sterling  heartily  thanked  papa  for 
the  discussion  of  the  other  night;  he  had  continued  thinking 
on  the  subject,  and  had  at  last  discovered  a  law  for  it,  of  which 
he  had  long  been  in  search.  The  highest  power  of  civiliza- 
tion of  any  age  can  only  be  determined  by  contemplating  the 
best  minds  of  that  age.  Descanted  finely  on  the  strength  and 
energy  of  character  which  we  had  derived  from  our  Teutonic 
ancestry.  He  somewhat  deprecates  the  Italians,  and  had 
much  rather  be  an  American,  where  independence  of  thought 
and  physical  freedom  prevail. 

John  Mill  joined  us  at  dinner,  and  Sterling  came  to  tea. 
Looked  at  the  Dresden  lithographs :  the  introduction  of  a 
Cupid  or  Minerva  or  other  myth  into  a  Dutch  painting  much 
like  the  sudden  appearance  in  a  flat  modern  prosaic  logical 
poem  of  some  flight  of  fancy,  some  trope  or  classical  allu- 
sion. On  Hope's  architecture,  Sterling  holds  that  the  different 
styles  were  the  result  of  the  natural  constitution  of  the  different 
peoples,  rather  than  a  gradual  imitation  and  adaptation  of 
natural  objects.  Talked  of  Wheatstone.  He  was  very  glad 
to  hear  that  there  were  such  minds  going,  and  adding  by  their 
researches  to  the  infinite  facts  of  existence.  Many  paintings 
finely  discussed,  Sterling  as  usual  glorying  in  his  ideal  theory 
which  went  out  when  beauty  of  coloring  came  in ;  he  loves 
the  old  Germans  and  the  Italians  of  Masaccio  and  Perugino's 
time,  whose  souls  were  so  imbued  with  the  idea  they  strove  to 
realize  on  the  canvas  that  all  beyond  its  simple  and  forcible 
expression  was  considered  of  little  consequence.  In  Claude's 
pictures  each  distance  has  a  single  prominent  object,  which 
marks  it  and  is  truly  effective.  The  evening  was  then  devoted 
to  a  glorious  discourse  on  reason,  self-government,  and  subjects 
collateral,  of  which  I  can  give  but  the  barest  idea.  Sterling 
was  the  chief  speaker,  and  John  Mill  would  occasionally  throw 


82  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

in  an  idea  to  clarify  an  involved  theory  or  shed  light  on  a  pro- 
found abysmal  one.  The  idea  of  a  guiding  principle  has  been 
held  by  the  best  minds  in  all  ages,  alike  by  Socrates  and  St. 
Augustine,  though  under  different  names.  There  has  ever 
been  a  cloud  of  witnesses  to  this  moral  truth,  and  the  sun 
shining  brightly  behind  them  even  in  the  darkest  age;  and  a 
superhuman  light  in  every  one  that  has  been  or  that  is,  and 
in  it  there  is  a  distinct  vision,  a  glorious  reality  of  safety  and 
happiness.  There  is  also  a  guide  to  the  path  you  should  take 
in  the  intellectual  and  active  world.  Carlyle  says,  "  Try,  and 
you'll  find  it."  Mill  says,  "Avoid  all  that  you  prove  by  ex- 
perience or  intuition  to  be  wrong,  and  you  are  safe ;  especially 
avoid  the  servile  imitation  of  any  other,  be  true  to  yourselves, 
find  out  your  individuality,  and  live  and  act  in  the  circle 
around  it.  Follow  with  earnestness  the  path  into  which  it 
impels  you,  taking  reason  for  your  safety-lamp  and  perpetually 
warring  with  inclination  ;  then  you  will  attain  to  that  freedom 
which  results  only  from  obedience  to  right  and  reason,  and 
that  happiness  which  proves  to  be  such,  on  retrospection. 
Every  one  has  a  part  to  perform  whilst  stationed  here,  and  he 
must  strive  with  enthusiasm  to  perform  it.  Every  advance 
brings  its  own  particular  snares,  either  exciting  to  ambition  or 
display,  but  in  the  darkest  passages  of  human  existence  a  pole- 
star  may  be  discovered,  if  earnestly  sought  after,  which  will 
guide  the  wanderer  into  the  effulgence  of  light  and  truth. 
What  there  is  in  us  that  appears  evil  is,  if  thoroughly  examined, 
either  disproportioned  or  misdirected  good,  for  our  Maker  has 
stamped  his  own  image  on  everything  that  lives."  Oh  !  how 
much  there  was  this  evening  of  poetry,  of  truth,  of  beauty  ! 
but  I  have  given  no  idea  of  it  on  paper,  though  it  has  left  its 
own  idea  engraven  on  my  memory. 

March  22. — Took  the  pony  to  the  Mills  for  Clara,  who  is 
troubled  with  asthma  and  a  little  cough ;  and  joined  by  her 
brother,  we  went  to  Lake's  to  get  a  keepsake  which  Henry 
wanted  for  his  little  niece,  something  that  would  amuse  her 
now  but  will  be  valuable  afterwards.  So  we  chose  two  vol- 
umes of  the  Naturalist's  Library  with  colored  plates.  He 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  83 

has  sat  again  to-day  to  Cunningham,  with  admirable  result, 
though  he  feels  it  an  exertion  ;  he  says,  "  I  think  you  would 
like  to  have  it  now."  He  has  been  dividing  all  his  things 
among  his  family,  a  deeply-affecting  employment  to  them  all. 
They  think  him  growing  decidedly  weaker,  and  take  it  by 
watches  to  sit  up  with  him ;  he'll  just  make  a  little  remark 
sometimes,  and  then  sink  away  again  into  sleep  or  its  sem- 
blance :  so  their  nights  pass.  Clara  has  been  collecting  flow- 
ers, and  they  have  been  together  pressing  many  of  them  : 
he  says,  "  this  belongs  to  us  two,  and  she  is  going  to  make 
it  the  foundation  of  a  herbarium  and  the  study  of  botany." 
J.  S.  Mill  gave  a  very  interesting  sketch  of  the  political  his- 
tory of  India,  the  advantages  derived  by  its  princes  from  our 
supremacy  there,  preventing  intestine  wars,  dethroning  and 
pensioning  sovereigns  and  princes,  and  thus  preventing  their 
extinction  by  rival  powers.  There  is  very  little  if  any  nation- 
ality in  India,  which  must  ever  impede  civilization  ;  the  prov- 
inces, states,  and  kingdoms  are  not  clearly  defined  ;  the  lan- 
guor of  the  people  hinders  every  species  of  improvement ; 
but  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  their  effeminacy  of  constitution 
and  habit  is  accompanied  by  a  quickness  and  delicacy  of 
perception  generally  known  only  among  women.  The  diffi- 
culty of  doing  justice  in  India  is  great,  in  consequence  of  the 
involved  terms  of-  our  alliances  with  the  princes,  and  the 
pledges  we  make  to  all  parties  which  it  seems  all  but  impos- 
sible to  redeem.  The  progress  of  Christianity  in  those  parts 
is  slow,  from  the  natural  want  of  energy  in  the  character  of 
the  people,  as  well  as  from  their  first  samples  of  Europeans 
being  those  connected  with  politics,  instead  of,  as  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  men  who  gave  the  whole  energy  of  their 
characters  to  the  work  of  promoting  Christianity  and  civil- 
ization, as  the  missionaries  in  the  Pacific  islands.  Sketched 
a  curious  character,  the  Begum  Saumarooz,  who,  with  the  idea 
of  taking  heaven  by  storm,  has  given  large  sums  to  the  Prot- 
estants, Roman  Catholics,  and  Mahometans.  He  gave  many 
details  of  that  horrid  people  the  Thugs,  "  that  black  passage 
of  history."  It  is  a  religious  bond  that  unites  them,  all 


84  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

being  votaries  of  the  goddess  of  Destruction  ;  none  but  her 
peculiar  worshippers  are  allowed  to  make  the  sacrifices,  and 
these  are  under  certain  limitations  to  the  initiated  ;  they  may 
kill  neither  a  sweep  nor  a  woman.  They  are  fatalists  and 
believers  in  omens,  some  of  which  they  have  recently  disre- 
garded, and,  supposing  therefrom  that  their  time  is  come, 
they  make  no  difficulty  in  delivering  themselves  up  to  the 
English.  They  are  now  almost  eradicated.  The  absence  of 
a  postal  system  and  of  the  practice  of  writing  made  the  work 
of  these  wretches  much  easier,  and  concealment  of  the  num- 
ber almost  secure.  So  much  for  the  indirect  benefits  of  civil- 
ization. Henry  has  been  sketching  a  little  to-day,  and  dis- 
played his  work  to  Cunningham.  He  said  afterwards,  "  I 
wonder  why  I  showed  my  sketch  to  him.  I  suppose  it  was  to 
show  the  feeling  of  a  fellow-artist."  Good  conversation  with 
papa  on  the  state  of  things  in  China,  but  too  complicated  for 
me  to  chronicle.  Sterling  described  Count  D'Orsay  coming 
to  sketch  Carlyle  :  a  greater  contrast  could  not  possibly  be 
imagined  ;  the  Scotch  girl  who  opened  the  door  was  so  aston- 
ished at  the  apparition  of  this  magnificent  creature  that  she 
ran  away  in  a  fright,  and  he  had  to  insinuate  himself  the  best 
way  he  could  through  the  narrow  passage.  He  is  the  most 
fascinating  person  that  ever  was,  can  make  anything  of  any- 
body that  he  takes  in  hand  ;  and  the  grand  mistake  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  when  the  Lady-question  was  agitated,  was  not 
putting  in  his  hands  the  business  of  negotiating  it  with  the 
queen  ! 

March  23. — Took  Clara  a  ride.  Spoke  much  of  her  father, 
and  how  he  had  entirely  educated  John  and  made  him  think 
prematurely,  so  that  he  never  had  the  enjoyment  of  life  pecu- 
liar to  boys.  He  feels  this  a  great  disadvantage.  He  told 
us  that  his  hair  came  off  "when  you  were  quite  a  little  girl 
and  I  was  two-and-twenty."  He  has  such  a  funny  habit  of 
nodding  when  he  is  interested  in  any  subject. 

March  24. — John  Mill  joined  us  at  dinner.  Last  night  for 
an  hour  and  a  half  Henry  Mill  conversed  at  intervals,  partly 
about  his  past  life,  in  which  he  thought  he  might  have  done 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  85 

more  and  done  better;  now,  however,  he  hopes  that  his  death 
may  be  of  some  use  to  others  :  he  feels  perfect  confidence  in 
looking  to  the  future.  Talked  of  the  misery  of  family  sepa- 
rations, the  uprooting  of  the  tender  plants  and  their  trans- 
plantation to  foreign  soils  :  they  have  experienced  it  in  their 
brother  James's  case,  who  is  gone  to  India.  Talked  of  Chris- 
tian names  :  in  Catholic  countries  they  never  put  a  surname 
in  that  position,  but  always  attach  a  string  of  saints  to  their 
person.  "  Now,  you  see,  I  should  have  the  protection  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  and  the  Baptist,  and  many  others  ;  but, 
as  they  have  so  much  to  do,  it  is  well  to  court  the  favor  of 
some  more  obscure  saints."  Of  Conversation  Sharp  he  spoke 
with  much  interest :  "  It  was  a  fine  thing  for  me  to  hear  him 
and  my  father  converse  ;  some  of  these  confabs  are  published 
in  Sharp's  'Essays  and  Conversations  ;'  a  favorite  good  thing 
would  often  make  its  appearance."  Asked  him  whether  he 
was"  going  to  write  a  review  of  Coleridge  as  a  poet  (he  has 
lately  written  a  wonderfully  lucid  article  on  his  philosophical 
character);  he  said,  "No,  those  who  would  read  Coleridge 
with  pleasure  seldom  mistake  his  meaning  or  his  character. 
Wordsworth  prepared  people's  minds  for  the  higher  flights 
of  Coleridge,  and  now  that  his  fame  is  recognized  by  the 
second  generation,  the  true  umpires,  it  must  be  permanent." 

March  25. — John  Mill  drew  a  parallel,  by  way  of  contrast, 
between  his  own  character  and  Carlyle's;  they  are  very  inti- 
mate without  much  association.  "  Mill  has  singularly  little 
sense  of  the  concrete,"  says  Sterling,  "and,  though  possess- 
ing deep  feeling,  has  little  poetry.  He  is  the  most  scientific 
thinker  extant, — more  than  Coleridge  was,  more  continuous 
and  severe.  Coleridge's  silken  thread  of  reasoning  was  some- 
times broken,  but  then  it  was  for  the  sake  of  interpolating  a 
fillet  of  pure  gold." 

March  26. — Dr.  Calvert  at  breakfast,  in  specially  good 
spirits,  and  saying  all  sorts  of  funny  things.  He  brought  the 
portrait  that  Cunningham  has  taken  of  him  ;  a  beautiful  thing, 
but,  says  he,  "  not  the  Dr.  Calvert  that  I  shave  every  morn- 
ing." He  was  at  Oriel  College  when  he  took  his  degree, 

8 


86  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

where  they  were  said  to  drink  nothing  but  tea  ;  nevertheless, 
they  kept  up  the  gentlemanly  appearance  of  good  living  by 
rolling  about  in  the  quads,  as  royally  as  the  men  of  Christ- 
church.  Oriel  has  always  been  a  famous  college  for  rows  and 
diversities  of  opinion,  because  they  had  a  very  clever  head 
who  taught  all  the  students  to  think  for  themselves;  this  nat- 
urally made  them  very  troublesome.  Talked  over  some  absurd 
college  regulations,  and  of  some  of  the  founders,  "  for  whom," 
he  remarked,  "  I  am  especially  bound  to  pray."  This  induced 
a  spirited  discussion  on  the  practice  of  prayer  for  the  dead, 
carried  on  more  for  fun  and  practice  than  for  conviction. 

March  27. — Barclay  desperately  busy  winding  up  affairs  and 
acquaintance.  He  did,  however,  manage  to  meet  us  at  Pen- 
jerrick,  where  Sterling,  John  Mill,  Clara  Mill,  Anna  Maria, 
and  I  prepared  an  elegant  luncheon  al  fresco.  Walked  back 
not  unpleasantly.  My  own  experience  only  shall  I  thus  per- 
petuate: First,  with  Sterling  on  Germany  and  the  Germans; 
he  is  very  anxious  for  all  in  whom  he  is  interested  to  study 
German,  for  he  thinks  it  contains  the  principles  of  knowledge 
more  than  any  other  language.  He  has,  after  much  thinking, 
reduced  this  subject  to  a  law  :  to  handle  the  abstract  ideas  as 
real  beings,  and  earnestly  to  believe  in  and  reason  from  them, 
is  the  way  to  arrive  at  clear,  definite  conclusions,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Germans.  They  had  made  a  great  start  in  the 
last  fifty  years.  The  love  of  thinking  he  partly  derives  from 
their  geographical  situation,  so  inland  and  so  uncommercial 
that  they  are  little  called  out  from  their  quiet  contemplations. 
He  was  much  tickled  last  evening,  when  eating  the  body  of 
Dr.  Calvert's  heron,  to  see  the  bird  stuffed  and  looking  like 
life,  standing  solemnly  by  viewing  the  proceeding.  J.  S.  Mill 
says  his  acquaintance  with  Sterling  began  with  a  hard  fight  at 
the  Debating  Society  at  Cambridge,  when  he  appeared  as  a 
Benthamite  and  Sterling  as  a  Mystic ;  since  then  they  have 
more  and  more  approximated.  They  all  went  to  Glendurgan  ; 
they  were  excessively  delighted  with  the  drive,  and  in  one 
part,  where  there  were  a  few  trees,  Sterling  said,  "  Why,  really, 
this  reminds  one  of  England."  He  has  heard  from  the  Car- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  87 

lyles;  Mrs.  Carlyle's  letter  was  to  this  effect: — "Do  come 
and  see  us  !  Here  are  many  estimable  families. — J.  C."  She 
plays  all  manner  of  tricks  on  her  husband,  telling  wonderful 
stories  of  him  in  his  presence,  founded  almost  solely  on  her 
bright  imagination  ;  he,  poor  man,  panting  for  an  opportunity 
to  stuff  in  a  negation,  but  all  to  no  purpose;  having  cut  him 
up  sufficiently,  she  would  clear  the  course.  They  are  a  very 
happy  pair.  Carlyle  and  Edward  Irving  were  schoolmasters 
at  Annan,  formed  an  intimacy  there,  and  Carlyle  loved  Irving 
to  the  last,  with  all  the  ardor  of  an  early  affection  ;  he  deeply 
regretted  the  weakness  which  he  exhibited,  and  considered 
that  vanity  was  his  friend's  quicksand.  He,  like  too  many 
others,  preferred  shining  immediately,  when  he  himself  could 
witness  the  blaze  which  would  then  go  out  in  obscure  dark- 
ness, to  the  gradual  development  of  a  clear,  bright,  steady 
light,  fixed  for  ever  in  the  firmament  of  Truth.  This  prefer- 
ence destroys  all  that  is  truly  great,  and  has  held  back  we 
know  not  how  many  from  the  noble  ends  for  which  their 
Maker  designed  them.  When  Irving  was  at  one  of  Coleridge's 
soirees  (where  John  Mill  saw  him)  he  looked  as  if  trying  to 
appear  a  disciple  of  the  great  sage,  but  it  looked  only  like 
hypocrisy.  People  are  very  apt  to  form  an  ideal  of  their  own 
character,  and  then  their  constant  aim  is  to  act  up  to  it  and 
to  look  it.  On  the  difference  between  conceit  and  vanity : 
the  first  makes  people  very  happy,  it  being  the  result  of  an  in- 
dependence of  the  opinions  of  others  or  almost  an  opposition 
to  them ;  vanity,  on  the  other  hand,  always  causes  unhappi- 
ness  and  discontent,  because  it  is  dependent  upon  others,  and 
the  more  it  is  ministered  to,  the  more  it  will  require.  They 
talked  on  politics.  I  asked  if  they  would  really  wish  for  a 
Radical  government.  Sterling  explained  that  under  existing 
circumstances  it  was  impossible  such  a  thing  could  be.  John 
Mill  sighed  out,  "I  have  long  done  what  I  could  to  prepare 
them  for  it,  but  in  vain  ;  so  I  have  given  them  up,  and  in  fact 
they  have  given  up  me."  He  spoke  of  the  extreme  elation 
of  spirits  he  always  experienced  in  the  country,  and  illus- 
trated it,  with  an  apology,  by  jumping. 


88  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

On  consumption,  and  the  why  it  was  so  connected  with 
what  is  beautiful  and  interesting  in  nature.  The  disease  itself 
brings *the  mind  as  well  as  the  constitution  into  a  state  of 
prematurity,  and  this  reciprocally  preys  on  the  body.  After 
an  expressive  pause,  John  Mill  quietly  said,  "  I  expect  to  die 
of  consumption."  I  lectured  him  about  taking  a  little  more 
care  of  himself.  "  Why,  it  does  not  much  signify  in  what 
form  death  comes  to  us."  "But  time  is  important  to  those 
who  wish  to  help  their  fellow-creatures."  "Certainly,"  he 
replied,  "  it  is  pleasant  to  do  some  little  good  in  the  world." 
When  Barclay  joined  us,  the  first  question  agitated  was  the 
influence  of  habits  of  business  on  literary  pursuits.  John 
Mill  considers  it  the  duty  of  life  to  endeavor  to  reconcile  the 
two,  the  active  and  the  speculative  ;  and  from  his  own  exper- 
ience and  observation  the  former  gives  vigor  and  system  and 
effectiveness  to  the  latter.  He  finds  that  he  can  do  much 
more  in  two  hours  after  a  busy  day  than  when  he  sits  down  to 
write  with  time  at  his  own  command.  He.  has  watched  the 
development  of  many  young  minds,  and  observed  that  those 
who  make  the  greatest  intellectual  advances  are  of  the  active 
class,  even  when  they  enjoy  fewer  advantages  than  their  con- 
templative friends  ;  and  nothing  promotes  activity  of  mind 
more  than  habits  of  business.  Barclay  was  lamenting  his 
sense  of  incapacity  to  attain,  in  his  intellectual  being,  to  the 
mark  which  was  evidently  set  forth  in  his  own  mind.  "  This, 
with  very  few  exceptions,"  rejoined  John  Mill,  "was  the  case 
with  all  who  ever  reflected  ;  men's  strivings  were  divided  by 
Carlyle  into  two  classes, — to  be  and  to  seem :  the  former 
aimed  high,  and  though  they  cannot  attain  to  it,  yet  this  very 
striving  gives  energy  to  their  characters ;  the  latter  go  about, 
deceiving  and  being  deceived,  using  terms  in  speaking  of 
themselves,  and  believing  that  those  terms  represented  reali- 
ties :  these  are  doomed  to  a  stationary  position.  Self-decep- 
tion and  the  deception  of  others  act  reciprocally  in  increasing 
the  delusion.  Then  on  discouragements  in  intellectual  pur- 
suits. Here,  too,  you  should  ever  aim  high  ;  work  on,  even 
when  nothing  you  do  pleases  you;  do  it  over  again  without 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  89 

admitting  discouragement ;  at  the  same  time  you  must  curb 
your  fastidiousness,  and  not  let  your  judgment  and  taste  get 
too  far  in  advance  of  your  power  of  execution,  or  your  ardor 
will  be  damped  and  you  will  probably  do  nothing." 

March  28. — A  walk  with  John  and  Clara  Mill  to  Pennance 
and  Penrose.  The  first  subject  I  remember  is  Unitarians  in 
America.  These,  it  seems,  are  greatly  increasing  in  number, 
so  many  of  the  Presbyterians  having  gone  over  and  swelled 
their  ranks.  The  Congregationalists  form  the  largest  body  in 
America.  He  thinks  in  time  the  republican  government  in 
the  country  will  be  changed — perhaps  for  a  monarchy.  What 
especially  fosters  the  spirit  of  Toryism  there,  is  the  feeling  of 
the  richer  class  that  there  is  not  the  same  deference  shown 
them  that  there  would  be  in  other  countries  ;  also,  the  hunger 
for  a  literature,  a  history,  and  a  romance,  which  other  lands 
can  produce,  but  not  America.  Talked  about  Barclay  (who 
left  for  Wales  this  morning),  and  I  said  how  glad  I  was  that 
they  had  such  open  talk  together  yesterday.  "Why,"  said 
he,  "  yesterday's  conversation  made  just  the  difference  be- 
tween my  knowing  and  not  knowing  your  brother.  Often  it 
is  an  amazing  assistance  to  detail  a  little  of  one's  own  exper- 
ience when  one  has  passed  through  similar  discouragements 
yet  come  out  of  them."  I  remarked  on  the  pleasure  it  must 
be  to  help  others  in  this  way.  "  I  had  much  rather  be 
helped!"  he  answered.  The  process  of  unhooking  a  bramble 
made  him  philosophize  on  the  power  of  turning  annoyances 
into  pleasures  by  undertaking  them  for  your  friends, — a  gen- 
uine alchemy. 

Then  we  went  to  Germany,  inquired  into  the  reason  for  the 
contemplative  character  of  its  inhabitants:  he  lays  great  stress 
on  the  influence  of  the  domestic  affections,  which  are  so 
strong  there,  and  so  much  called  out  by  circumstances ;  then 
they  are  not  continually  striving  either  to  become  rich  or  to 
appear  so,  as  the  English  are,  but  settle  down  into  quiet,  con- 
templative habits,  without  an  idea  of  happiness  but  what  is 
subjective  to  themselves:  this  constant  habit  of  carrying  in 
themselves  the  elements  of  their  happiness  increases  and  gives 

8* 


9o 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


a  tranquil  tone  to  it ;  and  then  at  the  universities  the  studious 
men  give  the  tone  of  feeling  and  superinduce  a  love  of  knowl- 
edge for  its  own  sake;  and  Schelling  being  the  president, 
has  its  influence.  He  therefore  likes  the  plan,  now  so  much 
followed,  of  sending  young  men  to  German  universities. 
Talked  a  good  deal  about  Italy  :  the  Italians  carry  with  and 
in  them  such  a  sense  of  native  dignity,  the  result  of  asso- 
ciating themselves  with  remembrances  of  Rome  in  its  glory. 
They  are  exactly  the  figures  that  Raphael,  Titian,  and  others 
delineated,  and  serve  in  great  measure  to  account  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  arts  being  so  successful  there.  Their  great 
sensibility  and  emotion  he  ascribes  to  the  general  prevalence 
of  music,  and  to  the  magnificence  of  their  ceremonies.  He 
wound  up  with  Conversation  Sharp's  enumeration  of  the  true 
accomplishments  for  ladies, — a  love  of  reading  and  a  love  of 
walking. 

March  29. — John  Mill  is  going  to  concoct  for  me  an 
almanac  of  the  odors  that  scent  the  air,  to  be  arranged  chro- 
nologically according  to  the  months,  beginning  with  the 
laurel  and  ending  with  the  lime.  Speaking  of  motives,  he 
said  it  is  not  well  for  young  people  to  inquire  too  much  into 
them,  but  rather  let  them  judge  of  actions,  lest,  seeing  the 
wonderful  mixture  of  high  and  low,  they  should  be  dis- 
couraged :  there  is,  besides,  an  egotism  in  self-depreciation  ; 
the  only  certain  mode  of  overcoming  this  and  all  other 
egotisms  is  to  implore  the  grace  of  God.  Young  things  can- 
not thoroughly  know  themselves  ;  nothing  but  experience  and 
anxious  examination  can  teach  them  their  powers  and  their 
weaknesses ;  they  should  therefore  not  feel  independent  of 
the  opinions  of  others  about  them  till  they  are  matured 
enough  to  judge  for  themselves.  OUT  characters  alter  ex- 
ceedingly in  going  through  life,  and  this  alteration  enlarges 
our  capacity  of  sympathizing  with  others,  remembering  what 
struggles  we  have  encountered,  and  therefore  appreciating 
their  difficulties  in  passing  through  the  same  ordeal.  When 
the  change  in  character  has  been  an  extraordinary  one,  men 
are  often  observed  to  maintain  a  sort  of  personal  hatred  to 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX,  91 

their  former  errors  and  weaknesses,  and  then,  forgetting  their 
struggles,  they  shut  themselves  out  of  the  pale  of  sympathy. 

Perran,  April  i. — Dr.  Calvert  rode  over,  and  spent  an 
hour  or  two  here.  He  saw  Henry  Mill  yesterday,  who  asked 
him  how  soon  Death  was  likely  to  appear.  "  My  dear  fellow,  I 
can't  pretend  to  say;  but  I  may  tell  you  that  you  are  not 
likely  to  suffer  any  more  pain."  (When  Dr.  Calvert  began 
to  practice,  a  celebrated  physician  gave  him  this  valuable 
piece  of  advice:  "Never  say  when  you  think  a  patient  is 
going  to  die ;  nothing  can  be  more  dangerous,  and  you  can- 
not predict  with  certainty.")  Last  night  John  Mill  sat  for 
hours  at  the  foot  of  Calvert's  bed,  who  had  a  racking  head- 
ache, expatiating  on  the  delights  of  John  Woolman  (which 
he  is  reading),  and  on  spiritual  religion,  which  he  feels  to  be 
the  deepest  and  truest.  In  this  Dr.  Calvert  thoroughly  de- 
lights. Talked  about  the  state  of  the  heathen  and  their  hope 
of  salvation  ;  Calvert  would  give  the  argument  for  sincerity 
its  full  weight,  yet  he  added,  "  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  have 
the  government  and  judgment  of  ten  cities  confided  to  me." 

April  2. — George  Mill  has  arrived.  John  sitting  for  his 
portrait;  fell  first  into  a  revery,  and -then  into  a  doze; 
nevertheless  the  artist  is  hopeful.  To-day  he  spoke  of  teeto- 
talism ;  on  first  thoughts  it  seems  such  a  ridiculous  idea  that 
people  should  associate  and  pledge  themselves  not  to  do  a 
thing;  but  the  rationale  of  the  experiment  develops  itself 
afterwards.  Glorious  collection  of  autographs  from  Sterling, 
with  a  kind  note,  and  an  exquisite  little  autograph  poem  of 
Wordsworth's. 

April  4. — On  returning  from  Truro,  found  that  Henry 
Mill  had  quietly  departed  this  morning  at  half-past  ten ;  very 
sudden  it  was  at  the  last. 

April  5. — A  great  parcel  arrived  in  the  evening  with  John 
Mill's  kind  regards,  containing  all  the  "London  and  West- 
minster Reviews"  from  their  beginning,  with  notes  in  his  own 
hand,  and  the  names  of  the  writers  attached  to  the  articles ;  a 
most  valuable  and  interesting  gift. 

April  6. — Dr.  Calvert,  in  speaking  of  the  great  humility 


92 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


compatible  with  high  metaphysical  research,  spoke  of  John 
Mill  standing  on  one  side,  and  himself  on  the  other,  of  his 
brother's  death-bed.  Dr.  Calvert  remarked,  "This  sort  of 
scene  puts  an  end  to  Reason,  and  Faith  begins;"  the  other 
emphatically  answered,  "  Yes;"  the  conversation  which  fol- 
lowed displaying  such  humility  and  deep  feeling,  and,  as 
coming  from  the  first  metaphysician  of  the  age,  was  most 
edifying. 

Dr.  Calvert  talked  of  the  aid  metaphysics  might  afford  to  re- 
ligion, and  did  afford  in  many  cases  ;  for  many  minds  required 
more  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  faith,  and  this  the  study 
of  metaphysics  and  demonstrative  theology  afforded  them. 
Then  the  Friends  became  our  topic ;  he  again  extolled  their 
code  of  laws,  partly  because  they  do  not  dogmatize  on  any 
point,  do  not  peremptorily  require  belief  in  any  articles.  As 
to  particular  scruples,  he  would  hold  that  circumstances  should 
have  the  greatest  effect  in  giving  them  a  direction  :  in  his  own 
case,  for  instance,  when  living  in  a  county  where  hunting  is 
ruinously  in  vogue,  he  bore  his  testimony  against  it  by  neither 
riding  nor  lending  his  hunter  :  here  he  would  not  object  to  do 
either.  So  in  George  Fox's  time,  dress  was  probably  made 
a  subject  of  great  importance;  "but,"  he  added,  "-Satan 
probably  tempts  the  Foxes  of  Falmouth  in  a  very  different  way 
to  that  in  which  he  attacked  their  spiritual  ancestors;  he  is 
vastly  too  clever  and  fertile  in  invention  to  repeat  the  same 
experiment  twice." 

April  7. — John  Mill  wanted  to  know  all  about  the  consti- 
tution and  discipline  of  our  Society  (apropos  of  a  quarterly 
meeting  which  is  taking  place  here,  some  of  our  guests  having, 
to  our  deep  disappointment,  scared  them  away,  when  they 
crept  over  last  evening),  then  dilated  on  the  different  Friends' 
books  he  was  reading ;  on  John  Woolman  he  philosophized 
on  the  principle  that  was  active  in  him, — that  dependence  on 
the  immediate  teaching  of  a  Superior  Being,  which  gave  him 
clear  views  of  what  was  essentially  consistent  or  inconsistent 
with  Christianity,  independent  of  and  often  opposed  to  all 
recorded  or  common  opinion,  all  self-interest.  He  had  read 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  93 

Sewell  and  Rutty  before  he  was  ten  years  old.  His  father 
much  admired  Friends,  thinking  they  did  more  for  their  fel- 
low-creatures than  any  other  body.  He  was  a  warm  coad- 
jutor of  William  Allen's  in  promoting  the  Lancastrian  schools. 
He  much  admires  the  part  Friends  have  taken  about  tithes, 
and  values  that  testimony  against  a  priesthood  as  at  present 
organized.  In  a  statistical  table  he  has  seen,  the  longest- 
lived  professions  are  the  Catholic  priests,  and  the  Protestants 
come  very  near  them  ;  the  shortest  are  kings  and  beggars. 

The  "London  and  Westminster  Review"  is  to  be  con- 
tinued by  Mr.  Hickson  under  the  title  of  the  "Westminster:" 
he  declares  himself  a  disciple  of  Mill's, — "the  first  disciple  I 
have  ever  had,"  said  John  Mill ;  but  he  believes  his  opinion 
to  be  very  different  in  reality  from  his  own,  and  therefore  the 
spirit  of  the  "Review"  will  probably  greatly  change.  The 
"Review"  has  been  much  more  influential  than  profitable, 
only  about  twelve  hundred  copies  usually  being  sold  ;  but  that 
number  represents  many  more  than  twelve  hundred  readers. 

April  9. — I  received  from  Sterling  letters  from  Trench, 
Carlyle,  and  Coleridge.  That  of  the  latter  was  as  follows  : 

"MY  DEAR  STERLING, — With  grief  I  tell  you  that  I  have 
been,  and  now  am,  worse — far  worse — than  when  you  left  me. 
God  have  mercy  on  me,  and  not  withdraw  the  influence  of 
his  Spirit  from  me  !  I  can  now  only  thank  you  for  your  kind 
attentions  to  your  most  sincere  and  afflicted  friend, 

"S.  T.  COLERIDGE. 

"  '  P.S. — Mr.  Green  is  persuaded  that  it  is  gout,  which  I 
have  not  strength  enough  to  throw  from  the  nerves  of  the 
trunk  to  the  extremities. 

"  Monday  Afternoon." 

The  date  is  March  18,  1833. 

Sterling  says  that  he  would  not  part  with  this  except  to  a 
person  he  valued  and  who  values  S.  T.  C.  All  things  con- 
sidered, I  thought  it  too  precious  a  relic  for  me  to  keep,  and 
returned  it  (a  moral  conquest !). 


94 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


Talked  with  the  Mills  over  their  father,  and  of  many  of 
their  friends.  Bent  ham  was  long  their  next-door  neighbor ; 
such  a  mild  good-natured  person,  always  so  kind  to  children. 
He  and  their  father  were  very  intimate,  and  they  tried  educa- 
tional experiments  on  John  !  Many  anecdotes  of  Carlyle;  he 
has  a  peculiar  horror  of  lion-hunting  ladies.  He  will  talk  in 
a  melancholy  strain,  entering  with  earnestness  into  the  abuses, 
grievances,  and  mistakes  into  which  men  fall,  deeply  commis- 
erating alike  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed, — the  former 
gaining  rather  more  of  his  pity,  as  being  further  removed 
from  what  must  constitute  happiness. 

April  10. — John  Mill  is  summoned  to  town,  and  goes  to- 
night ;  the  rest  leave  to-morrow.  They  feel  leaving  Falmouth 
deeply,  and  say  that  no  place  out  of  London  will  be  so  dear 
to  them.  Now  for  some  last  glimpses  at  Truth  through  those 
wonderfully  keen,  quiet  eyes.  On  education  :  his  father's  idea 
was  to  make  children  understand  one  thing  thoroughly  ;  this 
is  not  only  a  good  exercise  for  the  mind,  but  it  creates  in 
themselves  a  standard  by  which  to  judge  of  their  knowledge 
of  other  subjects,  whether  it  is  superficial  or  otherwise.  He 
does  not  like  things  to  be  made  too  easy  or  too  agreeable  to 
children ;  the  plums  should  not  be  picked  out  for  them,  or  it 
is  very  doubtful  if  they  will  ever  be  at  the  trouble  of  learning 
what  is  less  pleasant.  For  childhood,  the  art  is  to  apportion 
the  difficulties  to  the  age,  but  in  life  there  is  no  such  adapta- 
tion. Life  must  be  a  struggle  throughout ;  so  let  children,  when 
children,  learn  to  struggle  manfully  and  overcome  difficulties. 
His  father  made  him  study  ecclesiastical  history  before  he  was 
ten.  This  method  of  early  intense  application  he  would  not 
recommend  to  others  :  in  most  cases  it  would  not  answer,  and 
where  it  does,  the  buoyancy  of  youth  is  entirely  superseded 
by  the  maturity  of  manhood,  and  action  is  very  likely  to  be 
merged  in  reflection.  "  I  never  was  a  boy,"  he  said  ;  "  never 
played  at  cricket :  it  is  better  to  let  Nature  have  her  own 
way."  In  his  essays  on  French  affairs  he  has  infused  more  of 
himself  than  into  any  of  his  other  writings,  the  whole  subject 
of  that  country  so  deeply  interests  him.  The  present  tone  of 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  95 

feeling  there  indicates  a  great  progressive  change,  not  only 
among  the  thinking  men,  but  the  most  influential, — the  mid- 
dle class.  They  have  reached  the  point  of  earnest  seeking 
after  what  is  good  and  true  and  immutable.  Their  first  opin- 
ions— those  which  they  have  simply  imbibed  from  tradition 
and  prejudice — they  have  forsaken,  and  their  minds  are  anx- 
iously open  to  truth.  A  republic,  even  if  right  on  the  abstract 
principle  of  men  being  trustworthy  of  the  charge  of  self-gov- 
ernment, would  never  suit  them  ;  they  must  follow  a  leader, 
so  an  elective  monarchy  will  be  their  probable  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  after-years.  The  French  care  most  for  persons, 
the  English  for  things;  therefore,  much  must  be  done  in  our 
country  in  the  way  of  mental  enlargement  before  any  great 
progress  can  be  witnessed.  England  in  the  time  of  Charles 
I.,  and  France  before  the  Revolution,  were  in  much  the  same 
state  ;  they  believed  in  the  infallibility  of  their  own  belief, 
and  therefore  felt  warranted  in  persecuting  others.  Now, 
however,  we  believe  nothing  certainly,  and  cannot  therefore 
venture  to  persecute  for  difference  of  opinion.  Every  one 
who,  as  Carlyle  expresses  it,  "looks  beyond  eating  his  pud- 
ding," feels  that  he  has  a  great  warfare  to  accomplish  ;  some 
there  are  who  had  rather  die  than  continue  the  struggle,  their 
sense  of  right  just  leading  them  to  self-condemnation.  Every 
one  has  an  infallible  guide  in  the  sanctuary  of  his  own  heart,  if 
he  will  but  wait  and  listen  ;  some  continue  for  years  in  a  state 
of  unrest,  but  with  few  does  it  continue  till  the  end  without 
physical  disease  inducing  it  :  at  this  point  a  judicious  friend 
or  a  book  has  often  a  wonderful  and  delightful  effect  in  open- 
ing truth,  a  clear  belief,  and  a  peaceful  conscience  to  him 
who  had  sought  them  with  such  earnestness.  Different  men 
arrive  at  different  points  and  views  of  truth  by  this  process ; 
none  know  Truth  in  its  fulness,  nor  can  know  it  whilst  bound 
down  to  earth  and  time.  Then  to  America ;  he  is  thankful 
that  the  experiment  of  a  republic  has  been  tried  there ;  it  has 
failed,  and  ever  must  fail,  for  want  of  the  two  contending 
powers  which  are  always  requisite  to  keep  things  in  proper 
order, — government  and  public  opinion.  America  subjects 


96  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

herself  to  the  latter  only,  and,  public  opinion  there  having 
decided  in  favor  of  one  particular  type  of  character,  all  aim 
at  a  resemblance  to  it,  and  a  great  sameness  is  the  result. 
There  is  as  much  of  tyranny  in  this  process  as  in  that  more 
commonly  so  called.  These  two  counteracting  motive  powers 
are  essential  to  the  well-being  of  a  State  ;  if  either  gains  su- 
premacy, it  becomes,  like  all  self-willed,  unsubdued,  spoiled 
beings,  very  troublesome.  Its  existence  in  excess  changes  its 
nature  from  good  to  evil.  On  capital  punishments  :  to  which 
he  entirely  objects,  and  thinks  with  Carlyle  that  the  worst 
thing  you  can  do  with  a  man  is  to  hang  him.  John  and  Clara 
had  been  to  visit  Henry's  grave  ;  it  is  to  have  just  his  name 
and  age  inscribed  on  the  stone,  no  eulogy  or  epitaph.  "  Henry 
Mill,  aged  19,"  is  surely  expressive  enough  for  any  who  will 
rightly  read  it.  J.  S.  Mill  gave  me  the  calendar  of  odors, 
which  he  has  written  for  the  first  time  : 

A  CALENDAR  OF  ODORS,  BEING  IN  IMITATION  OF  THE  VARIOUS 
CALENDARS  OF  FLORA  BY  LINN^US  AND  OTHERS. 

The  brilliant  coloring  of  Nature  is  prolonged,  with  incessant  changes,  from 
March  till  October ;  but  the  fragrance  of  her  breath  is  spent  before  the  sum- 
mer is  half  ended.  From  March  to  July  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  sweet 
odors  fills  the  air  by  day,  and  still  more  by  night,  but  the  gentler  perfumes  of 
autumn,  like  many  of  the  earlier  ones  here  for  that  reason  omitted,  must  be 
sought  ere  they  can  be  found.  The  Calendar  of  Odors,  therefore,  begins 
with  the  laurel,  and  ends  with  the  lime. 
March. — Common  laurel. 

April. — Violets,  furze,  wall-flower,  common  broad-leaved  willow,  apple- 
blossom. 
May. — Lilac,   night-flowering   stocks   and   rockets,   laburnum,   hawthorn, 

seringa,  sweet-brier. 
June. — Mignonette,  bean-fields,   the  whole  tribe  of  summer  roses,  hay, 

Portugal  laurel,  various  species  of  pinks. 

July. — Common  acacia,  meadow-sweet,  honeysuckle,  sweetgale  or  double 
myrtle,  Spanish  broom,  lime. 

In  latest  autumn,  one  stray  odor,  forgotten  by  its  companions,  follows  at  a 
modest  distance, — the  creeping  clematis,  which  adorns  cottage  walls  ;  but,  the 
thread  of  continuity  being  broken,  this  solitary  straggler  is  not  included  in  the 
Calendar  of  Odors. 

To  Miss  Caroline  Fox,  from  her  grateful  friend, 

J.  S.  MILL. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  97 

Talked  cf  Uncle  Charles;  something  about  both  his  person 
and  manners  reminds  him  of  Southey.  Dr.  Calvert  sees  it 
also.  Mill  was  much  pleased  to  come  to  such  a  little  oasis 
as  Perran,  a  spot  so  different  to  the  general  character  of 
Cornwall.  Much  Eastern  talk;  he  recommends  Shore's  India, 
but  begs  us  to  ask  him  before  believing  anything  Shore  says 
about  the  India  House,  and  especially  the  political  depart- 
ment thereof.  When  Shelley  was  at  Cambridge,  he  and  Hogg 
supported  each  other  in  their  negative  views,  and  Shelley 
asserted  that  Bacon  thought  with  him  on  religious  subjects, 
quoting  passages  to  prove  it.  At  length  it  was  whispered  that 
Hogg  was  his  Bacon  ;  and  so  he  was.  Leave-takings  had  to 
be  got  through,  and  they  were  gone  ! 

Cunningham  showed  us  his  portrait  of  J.  S.  Mill,  which  is 
very  beautiful  ;  quite  an  ideal  head,  so  expanded  with  patient 
thought,  and  a  face  of  such  exquisite  refinement. 

April  ii. — Dr.  Calvert  says  he  prefers  Hartley  Coleridge's 
poetry  to  his  father's,  because  he  finds  in  it  more  thought  and 
less  imagination.  Speaking  of  Dr.  Schleiermacher,  whom 
he  enthusiastically  admires,  he  described  his  death-hour,  of 
which  he  was  so  conscious  that  he  begged  for  the  sacrament, 
calling  out,  "Quick,  quick!"  He  administered  it  to  him- 
self and  his  family,  and  expired.  This  may  be  compared 
with  Goethe's  dying  exclamation,  "  Light !  more  light  !" 

April  13. — Dr.  Calvert  described  old  Lord  Spencer  (whose 
travelling  and  family  physician  he  was)  looking  over  and 
burning  one  after  another  of  the  letters  his  wife  had  received 
from  the  most  eminent  persons  of  the  day,  because  he  thought 
it  a  crying  modern  sin  to  make  biographies  piquant  and  inter- 
esting by  personalities  not  necessary  to  them ;  he  therefore 
resolved  to  leave  nothing  of  which  his  executors  might  make 
this  ill  use.  At  length  he  came  to  one  from  Nelson,  written 
just  after  a  great  victory,  and  beginning  with  a  pious  ejac- 
ulation and  recognition  of  the  Arm  by  which  he  had  con- 
quered. Dr.  Calvert  snatched  it  out  of  his  hand — it  was  on 
its  way  to  the  fire — and  put  it  in  his  pocket,  saying,  "My 
lord,  here  is  nothing  personal,  nothing  but  what  everybody 
K  9 


98  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

knows,  and  burn  it  must  not."  His  lordship  was  silent.  A 
few  hours  after,  he  said,  "  Doctor,  where  is  that  letter  which 
you  put  in  your  pocket  ?"  "  Gone,  my  lord."  "  Indeed  ? 
I  was  wanting  it."  "I  thought  you  probably  would,  so  I 
immediately  put  it  in  the  post-office  and  sent  it  to  a  young 
lady  who  is  collecting  autographs." 

April  17. — In  the  evening  the  Rev.  T.  Pyne  was  announced, 
introduced  by  the  Buxtons,  who  proved  to  be  the  tutor  and 
travelling-companion  of  William  Quantamissa  and  John  An- 
sale,  Princes  of  Ashantee,  whose  father  had  killed  Sir  C.  Mac- 
Carthy  (a  particular  recommendation).  They  had  just  arrived 
at  Falmouth,  and  came  to  consult  about  plans,  so, papa  rec- 
ommended them  to  go  on  to-morrow  to  Penzance  and  return 
here  to  stay  next  week.  They  are  youths  of  seventeen  and 
nineteen,  tolerably  intelligent,  quite  disposed  to  be  haughty 
if  that  spirit  is  fostered,  have  been  educated  in  England,  and 
are  now  travelling  with  their  eyes  wide  open.  But  more  anon 
of  "  these  images  of  God  cut  in  ebony." 

April 18. — Parcel  and  note  from  John  Sterling.  He  en- 
closes the  letter  from  S.  T.  Coleridge,  on  which  he  has  writ- 
ten, "Given  to  Miss  Caroline  Fox  by  John  Sterling,"  to 
oblige  me  to  keep  it,  and  other  letters  of  his  to  read  ;  also 
his  memoranda  of  his  first  conversation  with  S.  T.  C.,  which 
Hare  considers  the  most  characteristic  he  has  seen.  Isn't  that 
joyous  ? 

April  21. — Met  their  Royal  Highnesses  and  many  others  at 
Consols  Mine  ;  they  were  much  delighted  with  the  machinery. 
In  Ashantee  they  have  copper-mines  as  well  as  gold  and  silver, 
but  they  are  not  much  worked.  Yesterday  they  went  sixty 
fathoms  down  Huel  Ve,an  and  were  much  tired,  bxit  their  Cor- 
nish exploration  has  charmed  them.  Each  one  keeps  a  jour- 
nal, and  a  certain  red  memorandum-book  which  occasionally 
issues  out  of  Mr.  Pyne's  pocket  is  a  capital  check  on  our  little 
members.  The  princes  have  unhappily  imbibed  the  European 
fashion  of  sticking  their  hands  through  their  hair,  which,  says 
Dr.  Calvert,  they  might  just  as  well  try  to  do  through  velvet. 
Every  one  was  pleasant  and  witty  according  to  their  measure. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  99 

April  22. — Took  them  up  the  river  tt>  Tregothnan.  T. 
Pyne  gave  interesting  details  of  a  visit  to  Niagara,  and  the 
inquiries  he  instituted  there  concerning  poor  F.  Abbott. 
These  were  very  satisfactory.  His  servant  said  that  he  used 
to  sit  up  very  late  reading  his  Bible,  and  then  meditate  in 
silence  for  a  long  time.  He  also  spoke  of  his  extremely  eccen- 
tric habits,  hanging  by  his  feet  on  a  branch  over  the  Falls. 

April  23. — Dr.  Calvert  talked  about  those  who,  in  intel- 
lectual pursuits,  will  not  be  at  the  pains  of  looking  over  the 
present  or  to  the  brighter  future,  who  love  not  to  sow  their 
seed  in  faith,  and  leave  posterity  to  reap  the  fruit :  this  was 
induced  by  a  remark  on  missionaries  being  so  often  forbidden 
to  witness  any  effect  of  their  efforts. 

April  24. — Our  Ashantee  friends  enjoyed  themselves  thor- 
oughly at  Glendurgan,  playing  at  cricket  and  leap-frog,  and 
fishing.  In  the  evening  many  joined  our  party,  and  all  were 
amused  with  galvanism,  blow-pipe  experiments,  and  such-like 
scientific  pastimes  until  between  eleven  and  twelve.  The 
princes  concocted  some  autographs,  and  were  much  amused 
at  the  exploit,  adding  to  their  names  "  Forget  me  not,"  at 
William  Hustler's  instigation.  They  talked  a  great  deal  about 
Ashantee  and  what  they  meant  to  do  there  on  their  return, 
the  schools  they  are  to  found,  and  the  people  they  are  to  send 
to  England  for  education.  Their  remembrances  of  their  own 
country  are,  I  shou'd  fancy,  rather  brighter  than  the  actual 
fact.  They  speak  of  their  father's  palace  as  a  magnificent 
piece  of  architecture,  and  of  the  costume  of  the  ladies  being 
generally  white  satin  !  and  other  things  in  keeping.  They 
really  seem  very  nice  intelligent  lads,  gentleman-like  and 
dignified.  When  too  much  puffed  up,  Quantamissa  refuses  to 
take  his  tutor's  arm,  which  sorely  grieves  T.  Pyne ! 

April  25. — We  were  a  large  party  at  breakfast,  after  which 
we  had  a  capital  walk  to  Pendennis.  Mrs.  Coope  was  in  her 
chair,  which  the  princes  seized  and  galloped  off  with  up  the 
steep  hill.  They  mightily  enjoyed  playing  with  the  cannon- 
balls  ;  their  own  Ashantee  amusements  consist  in  watching 
gladiatorial  combats.  They  laugh  in  a  knowing  manner  when 


I00  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

slavery  is  alluded  to,  and  they  left  us  this  afternoon  after  a 
really  pleasant  visit. 

April  26. — Barclay  forwarded  us  the  following  letter  from 
John  Stuart  Mill : 

"  INDIA  HOUSE,  i6th  April,  1840. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  (if  you  will  allow  me  to  adopt  this 
'  friendly'  mode  of  address), — Your  kind  and  sympathizing 
letter  has  given  us  great  pleasure.  There  is  no  use  in  my  say- 
ing more  than  has  been  said  already  about  him  who  has  gone 
before  us,  where  we  must  so  soon  follow  ;  the  thought  of  him 
is  here,  and  will  remain  here,  and  seldom  has  the  memory  of 
one  who  died  so  young  been  such  as  to  leave  a  deeper  or  a 
more  beneficial  impression  on  the  survivors.  Among  the 
many  serious  feelings  which  such  an  event  calls  forth,  there  is 
always  some  one  which  impresses  us  most,  some  moral  which 
each  person  extracts  from  it  for  his  own  more  especial  guid- 
ance :  with  me  that  moral  is,  '  Work  while  it  is  called  to-day ; 
the  night  cometh  in  which  no  roan  can  work.'  One  never 
seems  to  have  adequately  felt  the  truth  and  meaning  of  all  that 
is  tritely  said  about  the  shortness  and  precariousness  of  life, 
till  one  loses  some  one  whom  one  had  hoped  not  only  to  carry 
with  one  as  a  companion  through  life,  but  to  leave  as  a  suc- 
cessor after  it.  Why  he  who  had  all  his  work  to  do  has  been 
taken,  and  I  left  who  had  done  part  of  mine,  and  in  some 
measure,  as  Carlyle would  express  it,  'delivered  my  message,' 
passes  our  wisdom  to  surmise.  But  if  there  be  a  purpose  in 
this,  that  purpose,  it  would  seem,  can  only  be  fulfilled  in  so 
far  as  the  remainder  of  my  life  can  be  made  even  more  useful 
than  the  remainder  of  his  would  have  been  if  it  had  been 
spared.  At  least  we  know  this,  that  on  the  day  when  we  shall 
be  as  he  is,  the  whole  of  life  will  appear  but  as  a  day,  and  the 
only  question  of  any  moment  to  us  then  will  be,  Has  that  day 
been  wasted  ?  Wasted  it  has  not  been  by  those  who  have  been 
for  however  short  a  time  a  source  of  happiness  and  of  moral 
good,  even  to  the  narrowest  circle.  But  there  is  only  one 
plain  rule  of  life  eternally  binding,  and  independent  of  all 
variations  in  creeds,  and  in  the  interpretations  of  creeds,  em- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  IQI 

bracing  equally  the  greatest  moralities  and  the  smallest;  it  is 
this  :  try  thyself  unvveariedly  till  thou  findest  the  highest  thing 
thou  are  capable  of  doing,  faculties  and  outward  circumstances 
being  both  duly  considered,  and  then  DO  IT. 

"  You  are  very  kind  to  say  what  you  have  said  about  those 
reviews  ;  the  gift  of  unsold  copies  of  an  old  periodical  could 
under  no  circumstances  have  called  for  so  warm  an  expression 
of  thanks,-  and  would  have  deserved  an  opposite  feeling  if  I 
could  not  say,  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  that  I  do  not  expect 
you  to  read  much  of  it  or  any  of  it  unless  thereunto  moved. 
My  principal  feeling  in  the  matter  was  this,  You  are  likely  to 
hear  of  some  of.  the  writers,  and,  judging  of  your  feelings  by 
what  my  own  would  be,  I  thought  it  might  be  sometimes 
agreeable  to  you  to  be  able  to  turn  to  something  they  had  written 
and  imagine  what  manner  of  persons  they  might  be.  As  far 
as  my  own  articles  are  concerned,  there  was  also  a  more  selfish 
pleasure  in  thinking  that  sometimes,  however  rarely,  I  might 
be  conversing  with  my  absent  friends  at  three  hundred  miles' 
distance. 

"  We  scribblers  are  apt  to  put  not  only  our  best  thoughts, 
but  our  best  feelings,  into  our  writings,  or  at  least  if  the  things 
are  in  us  they  will  not  come  out  of  us  so  well  or  so  clearly 
through  any  other  medium  ;  and  therefore  when  one  really 
wishes  to  be  liked  (it  is  only  when  one  is  very  young  that  one 
cares  about  being  admired),  it  is  often  an  advantage  to  us 
when  our  writings  are  better  known  than  ourselves. 

"As  to  these  particular  writings  of  mine,  all  in  them  that 
has  any  pretension  to  permanent  value  will,  I  hope,  during  the 
time  you  are  in  London,  be  made  into  two  little  volumes, 
which  I  shall  offer  to  no  one  with  greater  pleasure  than  to 
you.  The  remainder  is  mostly  politics, — of  little  value  to  any 
one  now, — in  which,  with  considerable  expenditure  of  head 
and  heart,  an  attempt  was  made  to  breathe  a  living  soul  into 
the  Radical  party,  but  in  vain  :  there  was  no  making  those 
dry  bones  live.  Among  a  multitude  of  failures,  I  had  only 
one  instance  of  brilliant  success.  It  is  some  satisfaction  to 
me  to  know  that,  as  far  as  such  things  can  ever  be  said,  I 

9* 


102  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

saved  Lord  Durham, — as  he  himself,  with  much  feeling, 
acknowledged  to  me,  saying  that  he  knew  not  to  what  to 
ascribe  the  reception  he  met  with  on  his  return  from  Canada, 
except  to  an  article  of  mine  which  came  out  immediately 
before.  If  you  were  to  read  that  article  now,  you  would 
wonder  what  there  was  in  it  to  bear  out  such  a  statement*;  but 
the  time  at  which  it  appeared  was  everything;  every  one's 
hand  seemed  to  be  against  him,  no  one  dared  speak  a  word 
for  him  ;  the  very  men  who  had  been  paying  court  and  offer- 
ing incense  to  him  for  years  before  (I  never  had)  shrunk  away 
or  ventured  only  on  a  few  tame  and  qualified  phrases  of  excuse, 
not,  I  verily  believe,  from  cowardice  so  much  as  because,  not 
being  accustomed  to  think  about  principles  of  politics,  they 
were  taken  by  surprise  in  a  contingency  which  they  had  not 
looked  for,  and  feared  committing  themselves  to  something 
they  could  not  maintain  ;  and  if  this  had  gone  on,  opinion 
would  have  decided  against  him  so  strongly  that  even  that 
admirable  Report  of  his  and  Buller's  could  hardly  have  turned 
the  tide  ;  and  unless  some  one  who  could  give  evidence  of 
thought  and  knowledge  of  the  subject  had  thrown  down 
the  gauntlet  at  that  critical  moment,  and  determinedly 
claimed  honor  and  glory  for  him  instead  of  mere  acquittal, 
and  in  doing  this  made  a  diversion  in  his  favor,  and  encour- 
aged those  who  wished  him  well  to  speak  out,  and  so  kept 
people's  mind  suspended  on  the  subject,  he  was  in  all  proba- 
bility a  lost  man  ;  and  if  I  had  not  been  the  man  to  do  this, 
nobody  else  would.  And  three  or  four  months  later  the  Re- 
port came  out,  and  then  everybody  said  I  had  been  right,  and 
now  it  is  being  acted  upon. 

"This  is  one  of  only  three  things,  among  all  I  attempted 
in  my  reviewing  life,  which  I  can  be  said  to  have  succeeded 
in.  The  second  was  to  have  greatly  accelerated  the  success 
of  Carlyle's  '  French  Revolution,'  a  book  so  strange  and  in- 
comprehensible to  the  greater  part  of  the  public  that  whether 
it  should  succeed  or  fail  seemed  to  depend  on  the  turn  of  a 
die  ;  but  I  got  the  first  word,  blew  the  trumpet  before  it  at 
its  first  coming  out,  and,  by  claiming  for  it  the  honors  of  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  103 

highest  genius,  frightened  the  small  fry  of  critics  from  pro- 
nouncing a  hasty  condemnation,  got  fair  play  for  it,  and  then 
its  success  was  sure. 

"My  third  success  is  that  I  have  dinned  into  people's  ears 
that  Guizot  is  a  great  thinker  and  writer,  till  they  are,  though 
slowly,  beginning  to  reaH  him,  which  I  do  not  believe  they 
would  be  doing  even  yet,  in  this  country,  but  for  me. 

"  This,  I  think,  is  a  full  account  of  all  the  world  has  got 
by  my  editing  and  reviews. 

"Will  you  pardon  the  egotism  of  this  letter?  I  really  do 
not  think  I  have  talked  so  much  about  myself  in  the  whole 
year  previous  as  I  have  done  in  the  few  weeks  of  my  inter- 
course with  your  family ;  but  it  is  not  a  fault  of  mine  gener- 
ally, for  I  am  considered  reserved  enough  by  most  people, 
and  I  have  made  a  very  solemn  resolution,  when  I  see  you 
again,  to  be  more  objective  and  less  subjective  in  my  conver- 
sation (as  Calvert  says)  than  when  I  saw  you  last.— Ever 
yours  faithfully, 

J.  S.  MILL. 

"  It  seems  idle  to  send  remembrances ;  they  saw  enough  to 
know  I  am  not  likely  to  forget  them." 

April  28. — Visit  from  Dr.  Calvert,  who  has  been  translating 
some  of  Schleiermacher's  sermons,  which  he  lent  to  us  to 
illustrate  the  aid  which  metaphysics  may  yield  to  religion. 
They  were  very  useful  to  a  lady  in  Madeira,  to  whom  he 
administered  them.  He  (Schleiermacher)  did  more  than  any 
one  to  evangelize  Germany,  especially  by  letting  Scripture 
constantly  illustrate  the  different  points  of  faith  and  practice 
for  which  he  would  claim  a  primary  ideal  reality.  This  just 
suits  the  Germans.  Dr.  Calvert  has  been  examining  the  prin- 
ciples of  Friends.  He  thinks  that  as  much  was  done  by 
George  Fox  as  could  be  done  at  the  time  at  which  he  lived, 
but  it  is  not  enough  for  the  present  time ;  forms  and  words 
are  still  too  apt  to  be  accepted  instead  of  ideas,  and  a  new 
prophet  is  wanted  to  give  reality  to  the  abstract.  Fox's  work 
was  to  lead  man  from  his  fellow-man  to  Christ  alone ;  and 


104 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


how  great  an  aim  was  this  !  Talked  of  Darwin  and  his 
theory  of  the  race  being  analogous  to  the  individual  man; 
having  in  the  latter  form  a  certain  quantum  of  vitality  granted 
for  a  certain  period,  he  would  extend  the  idea  to  the  race, 
and  thus  would  regard  the  Deluge,  for  instance,  as  simply  the 
necessary  conclusion  of  our  race  because  it  had  lived  the  time 
originally  appointed  for  it:  this,  though  abundantly  conjec- 
tural, is  interesting  as  a  theory,  and  probably  originated  with 
Herder.  Then  on  the  growth  of  religion  in  an  individual 
mind  and  in  the  mind  of  the  species  as  precisely  similar ;  the 
first  idea  of  God  excited  by  the  Wonderful,  afterwards  by  the- 
Terrible  (Mount  Sinai),  and  only  Christianity  points  it  out 
as  specially  legible  in  the  small  and  little-noticed  events  of 
human  life,  or  objects  of  creation.  On  prayer:  social  prayer 
useful  and  necessary  to  satisfy  the  gregarious  nature  of  man, 
though  less  attractive  to  fastidious  natures  than  silent  and 
solitary  communion  with  God.  The  plan  of  specific  prayer, 
for  changes  in  the  weather,  etc.,  is  useful  in  giving  an  object 
for  prayer  in  which  the  multitude  can  heartily  unite,  but  cer- 
tainly showing  a  want  both  of  faith  (trust)  and  enlargement 
of  apprehension  :  still,  he  would  never  call  that  absurd  which 
is  the  conscientious  belief  of  any,  even  the  weakest  Christian, 
who  is  indeed  a  Christian. 

May  2. — Dr.  Calvert  dined  with  us  on  the  lawn  at  Penjer- 
rick,  amidst  a  party  of  school-boys.  He  spoke  of  having 
made  up  his  mind  not  to  expect  anything  positive  in  life,  and 
he  has  found  great  comfort  in  this  conclusion.  He  believes 
that  the  exertion  of  our  powers  and  energies  to  effect  an 
object  is  always  of  much  greater  importance  than  the  objects 
themselves. 

May  7. — He  says  that  at  Falmouth  he  has  met  with  two 
new  and  most  interesting  facts,  John  Mill  and  grandmamma. 
The  satisfaction  he  derives  from  finding  that  the  experience 
of  the  latter — an  aged  and  earnest  Christian — tallies  often 
with  his  own  theories,  is  extreme. 

London,  May  19. — We  had  heard  much  of  Thomas  Carlyle 
from  enthusiastic  admirers,  and  his  book  on  Chartism  had 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  105 

not  lessened  the  excitement  with  which  I  anticipated  seeing 
and  hearing  him.  These  anticipations  were  realized  at  the 
lecturing-room  in  Edward  Street.  We  sat  by  Harriet  Mill. 
who  introduced  us  to  her  next  neighbor,  Mrs.  Carlyle,  who 
kindly  asked  us  to  come  to  them  any  evening,  as  they  would 
both  be  glad  to  see  us.  The  audience,  among  whom  we  dis- 
covered Whewell,  Samuel  Wilberforce  and  his  beautiful  wife, 
was  very  thoughtful  and  earnest  in  appearance  :  it  had  come 
to  hear  the  Hero  portrayed  in  the  form  of  the  Man  of  Letters.* 
Carlyle  soon  appeared,  and  looked  as  if  he  felt  a  well-dressed 
London  crowd  scarcely  the  arena  for  him  to  figure  in  as 
popular  lecturer.  He  is  a  tall,  robust-looking  man  ;  rugged 
simplicity  and  indomitable  strength  are  in  his  face,  and  such 
a  glow  of  genius  in  it, — not  always  smouldering  there,  but 
flashing  from  his  beautiful  gray  eyes,  from  the  remoteness  of 
their  deep  setting  under  that  massive  brow.  His  manner  is 
very  quiet,  but  he  speaks  like  one  tremendously  convinced  of 
what  he  utters,  and  who  had  much — very  much — in  him  that 
was  quite  unutterable,  quite  unfit  to  be  uttered  to  the  un- 
initiated ear;  and  when  the  Englishman's  sense  of  beauty 
or  truth  exhibited  itself  in  vociferous  cheers,  he  would 
impatiently,  almost  contemptuously,  wave  his  hand,  as  if 
that  were  not  the  sort  of  homage  which  Truth  demanded. 
He  began  in  a  rather  low  nervous  voice,  with  a  broad  Scotch 
accent,  but  it  soon  grew  firm,  and  shrank  not  abashed  from 
its  great  task.  In  this  lecture,  he  told  us,  he  was  to  consider 
the  Hero  as  Man  of  Letters.  The  Man  of  Letters  is  a  priest 
as  truly  as  any  other  who  has  a  message  to  deliver;  but  woe 
to  him  if  he  will  not  deliver  it  aright !  He  has  this  function 
appointed  him,  and  Carlyle  would  even  have  his  fraternity 
organized  like  the  members  of  other  professions,  though  in 
truth  he  could  ill  chalk  out  the  plan  ;  but  their  present  mode 

*  These  lectures  on  "  Hero- Worship"  are  of  course  now  known  and  read  in 
extenso  by  every  one ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  compare  them  as  published  with 
the  resume  her^given  from  memory  by  Caroline  Fox.  who  had  no  knowledge 
of  stenography,  and  yet  reproduces  so  much  almost  in  the  words  they  were 
given. 


106  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  existence  is  a  sad  and  uncertain  one,  unprotected  by  that 
world  for  which  they  are  often  so  unfit.  As  they  are  the 
teachers  of  men,  he  thinks  them  well  worthy  of  a  university. 
He  spoke  of  education,  and  resolved  it  into  the  simple  ele- 
ments of  teaching  to  read  and  write ;  in  its  highest,  or  uni- 
versity sense,  it  is  but  the  teaching  to  read  and  write  on  all 
subjects  and  in  many  languages.  Of  all  the  teaching  the 
sublimest  is  to  teach  a  man  that  he  has  a  soul ;  the  absolute 
appropriation  of  this  fact  gives  life  and  light  to  what  was 
before  a  dull,  cold,  senseless  mass.  Some  philosophers  of  a 
sceptical  age  seemed  to  hold  that  the  object  of  the  soul's  crea- 
tion was  to  prevent  the  decay  and  putrefaction  of  the  body  ; 
in  fact,  a  rather  superior  sort  of  salt.  It  is  the  province  of 
the  Man  of  Letters,  if  he  be  a  true  man,  to  give  right  views 
of  the  world,  to  set  up  the  standard  of  truth  and  gather  de- 
votees around  it.  Goethe  was  the  type  of  a  Man  of  Letters, 
— all  .that  such  a  man  could  be ;  there  is  more  in  his  writings 
than  we  can  at  present  see  into.  He,  however,  preferred 
taking  Johnson,  Rousseau,  and  Burns  as  illustrations  of  his 
subject;  the  common  point  of  resemblance  is  their  being 
sincere  men  :  defined  sincerity  as  the  earnest  living  belief  in 
what  you  profess  to  believe.  He  considers  that  every  real 
poet  must  have  a  power  in  him  to  do  the  thing  of  which  he 
sings,  or  he  cannot  treat  it  with  effect,  nor  stir  the  sympathies 
of  others.  He  exceedingly  deprecates  logic, — as  giving  a 
semblance  of  wisdom  to  a  soulless  reason,  dry,  and  dull, 
and  dead  argumentation.  Thus  he  holds  Bentham's  theory 
of  human  life  to  be  one  degree  lower  than  Mahomet's.  He 
would  nevertheless  call  him  an  honest  man,  believing  what  he 
says,  little  as  he  can  himself  sympathize  with  his  naked  half- 
truths  :  his  being  a  sincere  prevented  his  being  a  useless  man. 
Then  we  got  to  Johnson,  who  was  born  in  an  age  of  scepti- 
cism, when  minds  were  all  afloat  in  a  miserable  state  of  un- 
rest, and  their  language  indicating  their  belief  that  the  world 
was  like  a  water-mill  working  up  the  stream  with  no  miller  to 
guide  it.  His  youth  was  one  of  extreme  poverty  ;  yet  when 
a  person  who  knew  of  his  condition  had  a  pair  of  old  shoes 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  107 

placed  in  his  lodging,  as  soon  as  Johnson  discovered  them  he 
flung  them  out  of  the  window.  This  incident  is  an  expres- 
sive type  of  the  man's  conduct  through  life  ;  he  never  would 
stand  in  another's  shoes;  he  preferred  misery  when  it  was  his 
own,  to  anything  derivable  from  others.  He  was  in  all  re- 
spects a  ponderous  man, — strong  in  appetite,  powerful  in 
intellect,  of  Herculean  frame,  a  great  passionate  giant.  There 
is  something  fine  and  touching  too,  if  we  will  consider  it,  in 
that  little,  flimsy,  flippant,  vain  fellow,  Boswell,  attaching 
himself  as  he  did  to  Johnson  :  before  others  had  discovered 
anything  sublime,  Boswell  had  done  it,  and  embraced  his 
knees  when  the  bosom  was  denied  him.  Boswell  was  a  true 
hero-worshipper,  and  does  not  deserve  the  contempt  we  are  all 
so  ready  to  cast  at  him.  Then  Rousseau  was  turned  to :  he 
too  was  a  warm  advocate  for  reality,  he  too  lived  in  an  age 
of  scepticism  ;  he  examined  things  around  him,  and  found 
how  often  semblances  passed  for  realities  among  men.  He 
scrupled  not  to  analyze  them  with  unsparing  hand,  and  soon 
discovered  that  you  may  clothe  a  thing  and  call  it  what  you 
will,  but  if  it  have  not  in  itself  the  idea  it  would  represent, 
you  cannot  give  it  a  substantial  existence.  And  so  he  opposed 
himself  to  kingship  as  then  existing.  That  man  from  his 
garret  sent  forth  a  flame  that  blazed  abroad  with  all  its  horrors 
in  the  French  Revolution,  and  was  felt  and  recognized  beyond 
garrets.  Carlyle  does  not  much  sympathize  with  his  works; 
indeed,  he  said,  "The  Confessions  are  the  only  writings 
of  his  which  I  have  read  with  any  interest ;  there  you  see 
the  man  such  as  he  really  was,  though  I  can't  say  that  it  is 
a  duty  to  lay  open  the  Bluebeard  chambers  of  the  heart.  I 
have  said  that  Rousseau  lived  in  a  sceptical  age :  there  was 
then  in  France  no  form  of  Christianity  recognized,  not  even 
Quakerism.  In  early  life  he  was  unhappy,  feeling  that  his 
existence  was  not  turning  to  account;  every  one  does  or 
ought  to  feel  unhappy  till  he  finds  out  what  to  do.  Rousseau 
was  a  thorough  Frenchman,  not  a  great  man  ;  he  knew  no- 
thing of  that  silence  which  precedes  words,  and  is  so  much 
grander  than  the  grandest  words,  because  in  it  those  thoughts 


lo8  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

are  created  of  which  words  are  but  the  poor  clothing.  I  say 
Rousseau  knew  nothing  of  this,  but  Johnson  knew  much ; 
verily,  he  said  but  little,  only  just  enough  to  show  that  a  giant 
slept  in  that  rugged  bosom."  Burns  was  the  last  of  our 
heroes,  and  here  our  Scotch  patriot  was  in  his  element.  Most 
graphically  did  he  sketch  some  passages  in  the  poet's  life  ; 
the  care  with  which  his  good  father  educated  him,  teaching 
him  to  read  his  Bible  and  to  write :  the  family  was  in  great 
poverty,  and  so  deeply  did  anxiety  about  rearing  his  children 
prey  on  the  mind  of  old  William  Burns  that  he  died  of  a 
broken  heart.  He  was  a  sincere  man,  and,  like  every  sincere 
man,  he  lived  not  in  vain.  He  acted  up  to  the  precepts  of 
John  Knox  and  trained  his  son  to  immortality.  When 
Robert's  talents  developed  themselves,  the  rich  and  the  great 
espoused  his  cause,  constantly  sent  for  him  when  they  would 
be  amused,  and  drew  him  out  of  his  simple  habits,  greatly  to 
his  own  woe.  He  could  not  long  stand  this  perpetual  lioniz- 
ing unblighted  ;  it  broke  him  up  in  every  sense,  and  he  died. 
What  a  tragedy  is  this  of  Robert  Burns !  his  father  dying  of 
a  broken  heart  from  dread  of  over-great  poverty, — the  son 
from  contact  with  the  great,  who  would  flatter  him  for  a  night 
or  two  and  then  leave  him  unfriended !  Amusement  they 
must  have,  it  seems,  at  any  expense,  though  one  would  have 
thought  they  were  sufficiently  amused  in  the  common  way ; 
but  no,  they  were  like  the  Indians  we  read  of  whose  grandees 
ride  in  their  palanquins  at  night,  and  are  not  content  with 
torches  carried  before  them,  but  must  have  instead  fireflies 
stuck  at  the  end  of  spears.  .  .  .  He  then  told  us  he  had 
more  than  occupied  our  time,  and  rushed  down-stairs. 

Returned  with  Harriet  Mill  from  Carlyle's  lecture  to  their 
house  in  Kensington  Square,  where  we  were  most  lovingly  re- 
ceived by  all  the  family.  John  Mill  was  quite  himself.  He 
had  in  the  middle  of  dinner  to  sit  still  for  a  little  to  try  and 
take  in  that  we  are  really  here.  A  good  deal  of  talk  about 
Carlyle  and  his  lectures:  he  never  can  get  over  the  feeling 
that  people  have  given  money  to  hear  him,  and  are  possibly 
calculating  whether  what  they  hear  is  worth  the  price  they 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  IO9 

paid  for  it.  Walked  in  the  little  garden,  and  saw  the 
Falmouth  plants  which  Clara  cherishes  so  lovingly,  and 
Henry's  cactus  and  other  dear  memorials.  Visited  John 
Mill's  charming  library,  and  saw  portions  of  his  immense  her- 
barium ;  the  mother  so  anxious  to  show  everything,  and  her 
son  so  terribly  afraid  of  boring  us.  He  read  us  that  striking 
passage  in  "  Sartor  Resartus"  on  George  Fox  making  to  him- 
self a  suit  of  leather.  How  his  voice  trembled  with  excite- 
ment as  he  read,  "  Stitch  away,  thou  noble  Fox,"  etc.  They 
spoke  of  some  of  the  eccentricities  of  their  friend  Mrs.  Grote, 
whom  Sydney  Smith  declares  to  be  the  origin  of  the  word, 
"grotesque."  Several  busts  of  Bentham  were  shown,  and, 
some  remark  being  made  about  him,  John  Mill  said,  "No 
one  need  feel  any  delicacy  in  canvassing  his  opinions  in  my 
presence;"  this,  indeed,  his  review  sufficiently  proves.  Mrs. 
Mill  gave  us  Bentham's  favorite  pudding  at  dinner  ! 

After  a  most  happy  day  we  walked  off,  John  Mill  accom- 
panying us  through  the  Park.  He  gave  his  version  of  John 
Sterling's  history.  In  early  life  he  had  all  the  beautiful 
peculiarities  and  delicacies  of  a  woman's  mind.  It  at  length 
dawned  upon  him  that  he  had  a  work  of  his  own  to  accom- 
plish ;  and  earnestly,  and  long  unsuccessfully,  did  he  strive 
to  ascertain  its  nature.  All  this  time  he  was  restless  and 
unhappy,  under  the  sense  that  doing  it  he  was  not.  This 
lasted  till  his  returning  voyage  from  the  West  Indies,  where 
his  patience  and  perseverance,  his  earnestness  and  sincerity, 
received  their  reward ;  he  saw  the  use  he  might  be  to  others, 
in  establishing  and  propagating  sound  principles  of  action, 
and  since  that  time  he  has  known  quietness  and. satisfaction. 
Though  his  writings  are  such  as  would  do  credit  to  anybody, 
yet  they  are  inferior  to  his  conversation  :  he  has  that  rare 
power  of  throwing  his  best  thoughts  into  it  and  adapting  them 
to  the  comprehension  of  others.  John  Mill  wrote  him  the 
other  day  that  he  would  gladly  exchange  powers  of  usefulness 
with  him.  Talked  on  the  spirit  of  sect  as  opposed  to  that  of 
Christianity  and  subversive  of  it.  Friends  in  their  essential 
character  must  have  less  of  it  than  any  others ;  though,  of 


HO  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

course,  in  theirs  as  well  as  in  all  sects,  the  espirits  homes  will 
exalt  the  peculiarities  and  differences  above  the  agreements, — 
the  very  spirit  of  sect. 

May  22. — To  Carlyle's  lecture.  The  Hero  was  to-day 
considered  as  King,  and  Cromwell,  Napoleon,  and  French 
Revolutionism  were  the  illustrations  chosen.  Every  ruler 
has  a  divine  right  to  govern,  in  so  far  as  he  represents  God, 
but  in  no  other:  the  discussion  on  the  divine  right  as  com- 
monly understood  is  too  dull  and  profitless  to  be  ever  resumed. 
He  soon  got  to  his  beloved  antithesis,  Reality  versus  Spe- 
ciosity, — that  which  is,  and  that  which  seems  ;  and  that  to 
call  a  man  king,  if  he  have  not  the  qualities  of  kingship,  can 
never  give  him  real  power  or  authority.  Men  have  long  tried  to 
believe  in  a  name,  but  seem  now  to  be  abandoning  this  attempt 
as  fruitless.  Goethe  says  that  the  struggle  between  belief  and 
unbelief  is  the  only  thing  in  the  memoirs  of  humanity  worth 
considering.  The  most  futile  attempt  to  represent  the  idea 
of  a  king  should  nevertheless  be  treated  with  loyalty,  or  its 
attempts  at  right  government  will  be  rendered  only  the  more 
futile.  In  matters  of  positive  conscience  alone  can  rebellion 
be  justified,  and  here  it  requires  a  just  balancing  of  the  true 
ideal  principle  of  loyalty.  Cromwell  comes  before  us  with  a 
dark  element  of  chaos  round  about  him  ;  for  he,  in  common 
with  Johnson,  lived  in  an  unbelieving  age,  and  the  chaos 
would  not  take  form  till  he  had  given  it  one.  "  He  is  said 
to  have  had  a  vision,  which  greatly  impressed  him,  of  a  nymph, 
who  informed  him  that  he  would  be  a  great  man ;  but  I 
doubt  but  this  vision  was  only  the  constant  sense  of  his 
power,  to  which  a  visible  form  was  given.  I  believe  Crom- 
well not  to  have  been  ambitious ;  no  really  great  man  is  so : 
no,  he  had  the  ideas  of  heaven  and  hell  within  him,  and  death 
and  judgment  and  eternity  as  the  background  to  every 
thought;  and  gilt  coaches  don't  much  affect  these.  Men 
say  that  he  had  the  Protectorate  in  his  eye  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  but  this  I  deny  ;  he,  like  others,  became 
what  he  did  through  circumstances.  Men  do  not,  as  is  so 
often  assumed,  live  by  programme  ;  historians  can't  make  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  IM 

greater  mistake  than  in  tracing,  as  they  so  cleverly  do,  the 
steps  which  he  they  write  of  took  to  gain  the  point  of 
eminence  which  he  reached.  Cromwell  came  out  direct 
from  Nature  herself  to  deliver  her  message  to  England.  To 
establish  a  theocracy  was,  I  believe,  the  great  celestial  idea 
which  irradiated  all  the  dark  conduct  of  him.  When  he 
came  to  the  Long.  Parliament,  he  looked  for  one  fit  to  carry 
out  this  idea,  but  he  could  not  find  one :  he  would,  I  believe, 
have  preferred  being  a  lieutenant  could  he  have  found  another 
man  worthy  to  be  a  king,  but  he  could  not ;  and  so,  having 
tried  two  Parliaments  and  found  they  wouldn't  do,  he  was 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  despotism.  He  was  in  a  situa- 
tion similar  to  that  of  the  present  ministry:  he  could  not 
resign."  He  gave  a  most  graphic  sketch  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  Cromwell  taking  Colonel  Hutch- 
inson  aside  and  imploring  him  to  love  him  still,  to  examine 
and  understand  his  motives,  and  not  to  abhor  him  as  a 
traitor;  but  it  was  all  in  vain  ;  a  narrow  confined  mind  like 
Hutchinson's  could  not  take  in  anything  so  grand,  and  he  too 
left  him.  After  many  other  most  effective  touches  in  this 
sketch,  which  compelled  you  to  side  with  Carlyle  as  to  Crom- 
well's self-devotion  and  magnanimity,  he  gave  the  finishing- 
stroke  with  an  air  of  most  innocent  wonderment :  "  And  yet 
I  believe  I  am  the  first  to  say  that  Cromwell  was  an  honest 
man  !"  Then  we  had  a  glimpse  at  French  Revolutionism. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  men  worshipped  the  things  that 
seemed  ;  it  was  a  quack  century,  and  could  not  last.  The 
representatives  of  kingship  increased  in  imbecility  and  un- 
reality, till  the  people  could  bear  the  delusion  no  longer ;  so 
they  found  out  Truth  in  thunder  and  horror,  and  would  at 
any  cost  have  Reality  and  not  Speciosity.  So  they  had  it, 
and  paid  its  price.  It  is  ill,  even  in  metaphor,  to  call  the 
world  a  machine  ;  to  consider  it  as  such,  has  ever  been  a  fatal 
creed  for  rulers.  Napoleon  was  brought  up,  believing  not 
the  Gospel  according  to  St.  John,  but  the  Gospel  according 
to  St.  Diderot,  and  this  accounts  for  his  fundamental  un- 
truthfulness  and  moral  obliquity.  His  bulletins  were  so  full 


112  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  lies  that  it  became  a  proverb,  "as  false  as  a  bulletin." 
No  excuse  can  ever  be  valid  for  telling  lies,  and  this  indiffer- 
ence of  his  must  prevent  him  from  coming  up  to  the  standard 
of  true  greatness.  But  he  was  a  good  governor:  he  went 
thoroughly  into  things,  understood  their  bearings  and  rela- 
tions, and  took  advantage  of  every  opportunity.  When  he 
went  to  see  the  Tuileries,  which  was  being  very  splendidly 
fitted  up  for  him,  he  quietly  cut  off  one  of  the  gold  tassels  and 
put  it  in  his  pocket.  The  workmen  were  astonished,  and 
wondered  what  might  be  his  object.  A  week  afterwards  he 
came  again,  took  the  tassel  out  of  his  pocket,  gave  it  to  the 
contractor,  and  said,  "  I  have  examined  the  tassel  and  find  it 
is  not  gold;  you  will  have  this  mistake  rectified."  Such  a 
man  could  not  be  taken  in.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  splendor 
he  had  little  enjoyment ;  there  is  much  pathos  in  the  fact 
that  many  times  a  day  his  mother  would  say,  "  I  want  to  see 
the  Emperor;  is  he  still  alive?"  No  wonder,  poor  woman, 
when  there  were  such  constant  attacks  made  on  his  life.  One 
thing  that  would  prevent  Napoleon's  taking  a  high  place 
among  great  spirits  was  his  thinking  himself  in  some  way 
essential  to  the  existence  of  the  world.  Many  a  time  at  St. 
Helena  would  he  wonder  how  Europe  could  get  on  in  his 
absence.  When  a  man  believes  himself  the  centre  of  the 
world,  he  believes  in  a  poor  Ego  and  loses  his  manhood. 
Napoleon  exhibited  a  sad  tragedy  in  trying  to  wed  Truth 
with  semblance,  and  nothing  but  tragedy  can  ever  result  from 
such  an  attempt.  .  .  .  He  then  told  us  that  the  subject  which 
he  had  endeavored  to  unfold  in  three  weeks  was  more  calcu- 
lated fora  six  months'  story;  he  had,  however,  been  much 
interested  in  going  through  it  with  us,  even  in  the  naked 
way  he  had  done,  thanked  us  for  our  attention  and  sympathy, 
wished  us  a  cordial  farewell,  and  vanished. 

Upton,  May  24. — The  Buxtons  dined  here  to-day,  and  after 
dinner  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  addressed  the  assembly  on  the 
subject  of  the  Anti-Slavery  meeting  next  month,  which  he 
thinks  it  is  the  duty  of  Friends  to  attend.  Prince  Albert  has 
become  President,  the  first  Society  which  he  has  patronized. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  n3 

Afterwards,  walking  in  the  garden  with  Barclay  and  me,  he 
talked  much  more  about  it,  regretting  the  scruples  of  many  as 
to  the  armed  vessels  which  are  to  accompany  the  Niger  Expe- 
dition ;  he  thinks  their  arguments  apply  equally  to  mail-coach 
travelling.  In  going  to  meeting  he  gave  a  picture  of  his  in- 
terview with  the  Pope,  and  other  pleasant  glimpses  of  people 
and  things  in  the  Eternal  City.  Wolffs  bust  of  Uncle  George 
Croker  Fox  especially  delights  him.  John  Pease  gave  us  a 
striking  sermon  this  evening,  on  which  Fowell  Buxton  re- 
marked that  he  exceeded  in  true  eloquence — that  is,  in  flu- 
ency, choice  of  language,  and  real  feeling — any  man  he  had 
ever  heard. 

May  25. — This  afternoon  the  young  Buxton  party  returned 
from  Rome ;  their  advent  was  performed  in  characteristic 
fashion.  Fowell  Buxton  was  sauntering  in  the  Park  when  a 
bruit  reached  him  that  they  were  approaching;  so  he  flung 
his  ill-hung  legs  across  the  back  of  a  coach-horse  which  crossed 
his  path,  with  blinkers  and  harness  on  but  no  saddle,  and  thus 
mounted  flew  to  the  house  shouting,  "They  are  come!"  so 
the  family  were  fairly  aroused  to  give  such  a  welcome  as  Gur- 
neys  well  know  how  to  give. 

London,  May  28. — Met  Dr.  Calvert  in  Finsbury,  and  had 
some  quiet  talk  in  the  midst  of  that  vast  hubbub.  He  has 
been  seeing  Sir  James  Clark  about  John  Sterling,  and  has 
written  the  latter  a  letter  which  will  drive  all  Italian  plans  out 
of  his  head.  In  his  case  it  is  the  morale  rather  than  the  phy- 
sique that  must  always  be  attacked,  and  a  quiet  winter  in  Corn- 
wall with  his  family  would  be  vastly  better  for  him  than  the 
intoxication  of  Italy.  Went  with  him  to  meet  the  Mills  at 
the  India  House  ;  met  Professor  Nichols  and  his  wife,  and  Mr. 
Grant.  Surveyed  the  Museum,  wherein  are  divers  and  great 
curiosities  :  the  confirmation  of  the  Charter  to  the  East  India 
Company  in  Cromwell's  own  hand  ;  four  pictures  representing 
the  seasons,  by  a  Chinese  artist,  in  very  fair  perspective  (many 
are  glad  to  take  advantage  of  English  instruction  in  this  and 
other  arts,  which  is  a  great  advance)  ;  the  tiger  crushing  and 
eating  the  unfortunate  Christian,  who  is  made  to  groan  me- 

10* 


114  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

chanically  (this  was  a  favorite  of  Hyder's,  as  representing  the 
Indian  power  crushing  European  interference!);  Tippoo's 
own  Koran  ;  models  of  Chinese  gardens ;  a  brick  from  Bab- 
ylon, inscribed  with  characters  which  none  have  been  able  to 
decipher;  numberless  snakes,  insects,  fish,  beasts,  and  birds, 
some  of  rare  beauty, — the  horrid  vampire  especially  fascina- 
ting. Then  to  the  apartment  of  our  host,  where  in  all  com- 
fort he  can  arrange  the  government  of  the  native  states,  rais- 
ing some  and  putting  down  others.  The  political  department 
of  the  East  India  House  is  divided  into  six  classes,  of  which 
this  is  one.  They  have  their  Horse- Guards  in  another  part  of 
the  same  immense  building,  which  was  built  for  the  accom- 
modation of  four  or  five  thousand,  the  population  of  the  capi- 
tal of  Norway,  to  which  number  it  amounted  in  its  most 
prosperous  days;  now  there  are  but  two  or  three  hundred. 
As  we  had  a  few  hours  at  our  disposal,  we  thought  it  a  pity 
not  to  spend  them  together,  so  we  travelled  off  to  the  Pan- 
theon. John  Mill  very  luminous  all  the  way,  spite  of  the 
noise.  He  considers  the  differences  in  national  character  one 
of  the  most  interesting  subjects  for  science  and  research. 
Thus  the  French  are  discovered  to  possess  so  much  nationality  ; 
every  great  man  among  them  is,  in  the  first  place,  essentially  a 
Frenchman,  whatever  he  may  have  appended  to  that  char- 
acter. The  individuality  of  the  English,  on  the  other  hand, 
makes  them  little  marked  by  qualities  in  common  ;  each  takes 
his  own  road  and  succeeds  by  his  own  merits.  The  French 
are  peculiarly  swayed  by  a  leader,  and,  so  he  be  a  man  of 
talent,  he  can  do  anything  with  them.  Custom  and  public 
opinion  are  the  rulers  in  England.  Any  man  of  any  preten- 
sion is  sure  to  gather  some  disciples  around  him  in  this  coun- 
try, but  can  never  inspire  a  universal  enthusiasm.  The  French 
take  in  all  that  is  new  and  original  sooner  than  others,  but 
rarely  originate  anything  themselves ;  and  when  they  have 
sufficiently  diluted  it  they  reintroduce  it  to  Europe.  Thus 
almost  all  new  doctrines  come  from  France,  in  consequence 
of  their  being  such  clear  statists  ;  but  if  they  find  a  subject 
too  deep  for  them,  they  entirely  give  it  the  go-by.  To  the 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  115 

Germans  a  new  idea  is  but  an  addition  to  their  list  of  specu- 
lative truths,  which  at  most  it  modifies,  but  creates  little  dis- 
turbance, so  essentially  are  they  a  speculative  people.  The 
English,  on  the  other  hand,  being  equally  in  their  essence 
practical,  and  whose  speculative  opinions  generally  bear  refer- 
ence to  the  conduct  of  life  and  moral  duty,  are  very  shy  of 
new  truths,  lest  they  should  force  them  to  admit  that  they  had 
hitherto  lived  in  vain  ;  few  have  courage  to  begin  life  de  novo, 
but  those  who  have  do  not  lose  their  reward.  The  Germans 
are  the  most  tolerant  people  breathing,  because  they  seem  to 
form  a  community  entirely  for  the  development  and  advance- 
ment of  truth  ;  thus  they  hail  all  as  brothers  who  will  throw 
any  light  on  their  demigod,  through  however  obscure  and  dis- 
countenanced a  medium.  The  spirit  of  sect  is  useful  in  bring- 
ing its  own  portion  of  Truth  into  determined  prominence, 
and  comfortable  in  the  repose  it  must  give,  to  be  able  to  say, 
I  am  sure  I  am  right ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  not  only  walls  up 
the  opinions  it  advocates  within  the  limits  of  its  own  party, 
but  it  is  very  apt  to  induce  a  pedantry  of  peculiarity  and  cus- 
tom, which  must  be  injurious  to  Truth.  He  thinks  that  the 
principles  of  Friends  would  have  been  more  influential  in  the 
world,  and  have  done  it  a  greater  proportional  good,  had  they 
not  been  mixed  up  with  sect.  On  the  great  share  self-love  has  in 
our  appreciation  of  the  talents  of  others,  he  said,  it  is  indeed 
delightful  to  see  the  gigantic  shadow  of  ourselves,  to  recognize 
every  point  in  our  own  self-consciousness,  but  infinitely  mag- 
nified. Without  self-love  you  may  also  account  for  this ;  you 
are  best  able  to  appreciate  those  difficulties  in  which  you  have 
been  yourself  involved,  and  are  therefore  in  a  better  position 
than  others  for  recognizing  the  merit  of  having  overcome  them. 
The  macaws  and  goldfish  of  the  Pantheon  prevented  further 
settled  conversation,  but  I  think  I  had  my  share  for  one  day. 
May  29. — The  Mills,  Mrs.  King,  and  W.  E.  Forster  to  break- 
fast. We  had  a  snug  time  till  eleven,  and  took  advantage  of 
it.  Talked  of  the  influence  of  the  love  of  approbation  on  all 
human  affairs;  Mill  derives  it  from  a  craving  for  sympathy. 
Discussed  the  value  of  good  actions  done  from  mixed  or  bad 


Il6  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

motives, — such  as  dread  of  public  opinion  :  this  dread  is  a 
very  useful  whipper-in,  it  makes  nine-tenths  of  those  affected 
by  it  better  than  they  would  otherwise  be,  the  remaining  tenth 
worse ;  because  the  first  class  dare  not  act  below  the  standard, 
the  second  dare  not  act  above  it.  On  the  use  of  differences 
of  manner  when  in  company  or  at  home ;  when  a  man  as- 
sumes his  every-day  manners  in  society  it  generally  passes  for 
affectation.  Society  seems  to  be  conducted  on  the  hypothesis 
that  we  are  living  among  enemies,  and  hence  all  the  forms  of 
etiquette.  He  can  always  judge  from  handwriting  whether 
the  writer's  character  is  a  natural  or  artificial  one.  On  truth 
in  things  false :  he  holds  that  though  right  conclusions  may 
be  occasionally  elicited  by  error,  they  can  never  in  the  nature 
of  things  be  grounded  on  it.  Then  the  Grecian  character 
was  dissected ;  there  was  no  chivalry  in  it,  it  never  cared  to 
protect  the  weak ;  Christianity  first  taught  this  duty,  but 
among  the  Greeks  strength  was  the  high-road  to  fame  and 
credit :  he  has  searched  in  classic  lore,  and  the  only  passage 
he  can  find  at  all  bearing  a  higher  meaning  was  one  in  Thu- 
cydides  which  says,  "It  is  nobler  to  combat  with  equals  than 
inferiors."  John  Mill  has  a  peculiar  antipathy  to  hunting  the 
hare,  it  is  such  a  striking  subversion  of  this  fine  Christian 
innovation  of  which  we  had  been  speaking :  he  has  never  at- 
tended races  either.  We  all  went  off  together,  John  Mill 
going  with  us  to  the  door  of  Devonshire  House,  evolving  his 
"  clear  because  profound  truths  (as  he  calls  Guizot's)  in  a  crys- 
tal stream,  his  spirit's  native  tongue."  Talked  about  party 
spirit,  and  how  inadmissible  it  was  except  where  subjects  of 
vital  import  were  concerned.  In  Geneva  all  the  party  spirit, 
all  the  Conservatism  and  Radicalism,  turns  upon  pulling  down 
the  city  wall,  or  leaving  it ;  and  on  this  subject  all  the  vagaries 
are  acted  which  we  know  so  well  in  this  England  of  ours 
under  the  name  of  party  spirit.  It  might  be  well  to  send  the 
leader  of  a  faction  thither,  to  convince  him  of  the  poverty  of 
his  motive  power. 

y^une  3. — Spent  the  evening  at  the  Mills',  and  met  the  Car- 
lyles  and  Uncle  and  Aunt  Charles.     Conversation  so  flowed 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ny 

in  all  quarters  that  I  could  not  gain  any  continuous  idea  of 
what  took  place  in  the  most  remarkable  ones,  but  what  I  did 
catch  was  the  exposition  of  Carlyle's  argument  about  the  pro- 
gressive degeneracy  of  our  lower  classes,  and  its  only  obvious 
remedies,  education  and  emigration  :  about  Ireland  and  its 
sad  state,  and  how  our  sins  towards  it  react  on  ourselves ;  but 
it  was  to  the  Condition-of-England  question  that  his  talk  gen- 
erally tended.  He  seems  to  view  himself  as  the  apostle  of  a 
certain  democratic  idea,  bound  over  to  force  it  on  the  world's 
recognition,  He  spoke  of  George  Fox's  "Journal :"  "That's 
not  a  book  one  can  read  through  very  easily,  but  there  are 
some  deep  things  in  it,  and  well  worth  your  finding."  They 
had  some  talk  on  the  teetotal  societies,  and  his  laugh  at  some 
odd  passages  was  most  hilarious.  Mrs.  Carlyle  was  meanwhile 
giving  Aunt  Charles  some  brilliant  female  portraiture,  but  all 
in  caricature.  Speaking  of  her  husband  in  his  lecturing  ca- 
pacity, she  said,  "  It  is  so  dreadful  for  him  to  try  to  unite  the 
characters  of  the  prophet  and  the  mountebank  ;  he  has  keenly 
felt  it ;  and  also  he  has  been  haunted  by  the  wonder  whether 
the  people  were  not  considering  if  they  had  had  enough  for 
their  guinea."  At  last  we  were  going,  but  our  postillion  was 
fast  asleep  on  the  coach-box.  Barclay  gave  him  an  intima- 
tion of  our  presence,  to  which  he  languidly  replied,  "All 
right,"  but  in  a  voice  that  showed  clearly  that  it  was  all 
wrong.  We  asked  for  a  hackney-coach,  but  J.  S.  Mill  was 
delightfully  ignorant  as  to  where  such  things  grew,  or  where 
a  likely  hotel  was  to  be  found  ;  and,  as  our  culprit  was  now  a 
little  sobered  by  fright  and  evening  air,  and  passionately 
pleaded  wife  and  children,  we  ventured  forward,  Barclay  and 
J.  Mill  walking  for  a  long  way  beside  us. 

June  13. — Went  with  the  Mills  to  the  Anti  Slavery  meeting 
at  Exeter  Hall,  and  had  capital  places  assigned  us.  It  was 
soon  immoderately  crowded,  and  at  eleven  we  were  all  ordered 
to  take  off  our  hats,  as  Prince  Albert  and  an  illustrious  train 
appeared  on  the  platform.  The  acclamations  attending  his 
entry  were  perfectly  deafening,  and  he  bore  them  all  with  calm, 
modest  dignity,"  repeatedly  bowing  with  considerable  grace. 


u8  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

He  certainly  is  a  very  beautiful  young  man,  a  thorough  Ger- 
man, and  a  fine  poetical  specimen  of  the  race.  He  uttered 
his  speech  in  a  rather  low  tone  and  with  the  prettiest  foreign 
accent.  As  the  history  of  the  meeting  is  in  print,  I  need  not 
go  into  details  of  the  brilliant  set  of  speakers  to  whom  we 
listened.  Fowell  Buxton's  was  a  very  fine,  manly  speech; 
and  the  style  in  which  he  managed  the  public  feeling  on 
O'Connell's  entrance  greatly  raised  my  notion  of  his  talent 
and  address.  Samuel  Wilberforce's  was  a  torrent  of  eloquence, 
seeking  and  finding  a  fitting  vent.  The  prince's  eyes  were 
riveted  upon  him.  Sir  Robert  Peel's  demeanor  was  calm,  dig- 
nified, and  statesmanlike  ;  the  expression  of  his  face  I  did  not 
like,  it  was  so  very  supercilious.  He  was  received  with  shouts 
of  applause,  and  truly  it  is  a  fine  thing  to  have  him  enlisted 
in  the  enterprise.  Lord  Northampton  was  very  agreeable, 
speaking  as  the  representative  of  British  science,  which  he 
hoped  might  have  a  new  field  opened  in  Africa.  Sir  Thomas 
Acland  was  manly  and  energetic,  and  would  make  himself 
heard  and  felt.  Lord*  Ashley,  a  very  handsome  young  noble, 
spoke  well  and  worthily.  Guizot  was  on  the  platform ;  his 
face  is  very  interesting,  illustrating  what  John  Mill  said  the 
other  day  about  every  great  Frenchman  being  first  essen- 
tially French,  whatever  else  might  be  superadded.  Guizot's 
head  and  face  are  indisputably  French,  but  "de  premiere 
qualite."  He  entered  with  much  animation  into  the  spirit 
of  the  occasion,  nodding  and  gesticulating  in  unison  with  the 
speakers.  O'Connell  seemed  heartily  to  enjoy  the  triumph 
of  his  own  presence  ;  though  not  permitted  to  speak,  a  large 
minority  of  the  audience  would  hardly  allow  any  one  else 
to  address  them  whilst  he  was  silent.  The  meeting  was  alto- 
gether considered  a  most  triumphant  one;  the  prince's  ap- 
pearance, the  very  first  as  patron  of  any  benevolent  enterprise, 
is  likely  to  tell  well  on  other  countries  ;  and  the  unanimity 
of  so  many  parties  in  resolving  to  try  this  great  commercial 
experiment  in  Africa  was  most  encouraging. 

*  The  present  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  K.G. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE    FOX.  II9 

Clifton,  July  17. — Whilst  driving  we  met  a  fly,  which  hailed 
us  right  cheerily,  and,  to  our  no  small  delight  and  surprise, 
John  Sterling  issued  forth  and  warmly  greeted  us.  So  Anna 
Maria  got  in  with  his  wife,  and  he  joined  us  ;  they  had  been 
paying  mamma  a  visit  at  Combe,  and  were  now  wandering 
forth  in  search  of  us.  He  looks  well,  and  was  very  bright. 
He  has  been  more  with  the  Carlyles  than  any  one  else  in  Lon- 
don, and  reports  that  he  is  writing  his  lectures  for  publication, 
— the  first  time  he  has  done  so. 

July  18. — We  went  off  to  the  Sterlings'.  He  did  the 
honors  of  a  capital  breakfast  very  completely,  during  which 
conversation,  even  on  high  matters,  was  not  suspended. 
Methinks  Sterling's  table-talk  would  be  as  profitable  reading 
as  Coleridge's.  His  discussion  with  Samuel  Wilberforce  at 
the  Sterling  Club  was  alluded  to.  Wilberforce  quoted  and 
argued  on  Pascal's  first  principle, — that  men  begin  life  with 
perfect  credulity,  proceed  to  universal  scepticism,  and  then 
return  to  their  first  position.  If  this  statement  were  correct, 
the  middle  term  would  be  altogether  useless,  though  con- 
sidered a  natural  road  to  the  conclusion.  Sterling  examined 
this  afterwards,  and  thinks  its  significance  may  be  understood 
thus:  you  begin  by  believing  things  on  the  authority  of  those 
around  you,  then  learn  to  think  for  yourself  without  shrinking 
from  the  closest,  severest  scrutiny  which  may  probably  bring 
you  to  be  convinced,  not  persuaded,  of  the  things  you  first  be- 
lieved, unless  these  were  erroneous,  in  which  case  they  may  not 
stand  the  test.  On  Carlyle ;  his  low  view  of  the  world  pro- 
ceeding partly  from  a  bad  stomach.  The  other  day  he  was,  as 
often,  pouring  out  the  fulness  of  his  indignation  at  the  quackery 
and  speciosityof  the  times.  He  wound  up  by  saying,  "  When 
I  look  at  this  I  determine  to  cast  all  tolerance  to  the  winds." 
Sterling  quietly  remarked,  "  My  dear  fellow,  I  had  no  idea 
you  had  any  to  cast."  Sterling  views  him  as  one  of  the  old 
prophets  who  could  see  no  good,  no  beauty,  in  former  institu- 
tions or  beliefs,  by  which  his  mind  might  have  been  called  off" 
from  its  intense  devotion  to  a  better  belief  and  purer  institu- 
tions. He  has  all  their  intensity  and  their  narrowness.  Spite 


120  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  all  his  declamations  against  men  as  now  existing,  he  weakens 
his  theory  sadly  by  uniformly  addressing  the  higher  feelings  of 
humanity  and  expecting  to  work  successfully  through  them. 
This  proves  that  he  must  give  them,  credit  for  possessing  some- 
thing with  which  he  can  sympathize.  In  comparing  Carlyle 
with  Jean  Paul,  you  will  find  them  each  more  like  the  other 
than  any  other  man,  but  there  is  the  difference  of  prophet 
and  poet  between  them.  Carlyle,  with  all  his  ideality  and 
power  of  words,  never  creates  an  ideal  character,  rather  the 
test  of  a  poet ;  he  is  never  affected,  as  a  prophet, — he  dare 
not  be  so,  it  would  neutralize  his  earnestness  and  reforming 
energy  :  Jean  Paul  as  an  artist  can  venture  to  treat  a  subject 
as  imaginatively  and  as  fancifully  as  he  likes.  Sterling  would 
define  Carjyle's  religious  views  as  a  warm  belief  in  God,  mani- 
fested in  everything  that  is,  whose  worship  should  be  pursued 
in  every  action.  He  religiously  believes  everything  that  he  be- 
lieves, and  sees  all  things  so  connected  that  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  belief  in  things  spiritual  and  things  natural  is 
not  by  any  means  distinct.  Sterling  then  showed  us  portfolios 
of  engravings,  out  of  which  he  gave  Anna  Maria  a  beautiful 
Rubens,  and  me  a  drawing  of  an  ideal  head  by  Benedetto, 
Guercino's  master.  On  my  remonstrating  against  such  over- 
powering generosity,  he  said,  "As  that  is  the  only  drawing  I 
have,  my  collection  will  be  much  more  complete  without  it." 
His  engravings  of  Michael  Angelo's  are  sublime.  He  has  that 
wonderful  figure  of  Jeremiah  and  another  hung  up  in  the 
drawing-room.  He  was  saying  something  about  them  one 
day  to  Julius  Hare,  who  answered,  "Yes,  I  should  admire 
those  two  pictures  of  him  as  much  as  you  do,  only  they  remind 
me  of  two  passages  in  the  life  of  W.  S.  Landor  which  I  have 
witnessed  :  the  first,  Landor  scolding  his  wife  ;  the  second, 
his  lamentation  over  the  absence  of  a  favorite  dish  of  oysters  !" 
Then  we  looked  over  a  book  of  portraits  of  the  German  Re- 
formers. The  only  mild  founders  of  new  opinions  on  record 
are  Swedenborg  and  the  Moravian  Father.  He  has  that  most 
beautiful  engraving  of  Melanchthon  which  expresses  all  that  his 
biography  teaches.  On  the  German  poets :  Klopstock  be- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  121 

lieved,  although  contemporary  with  Goethe  and  Schiller,  that 
Burger  was  the  only  German  poet  living  designed  for  worldly 
immortality  !  Julius  Hare  was  the  translator  of  those  tales 
from  Tieck  which  I  have.  Hare  met  Tieck  once,  and,  refer- 
ence being  made  to  his  translation,  Tieck  thought  that  he 
would  have  found  some  of  the  rhapsodical  parts  very  difficult 
to  render,  but  afterwards  agreed  with  Hare  that  the  soft,  deli- 
cate touches  and  shades  of  feeling  and  opinion  with  which 
he  abounds  must  have  required  the  more  careful  hand- 
ling. Madame  de  Stae'l  was  regretting  to  Lord  Castlereagh 
that  there  was  no  word  in  the  English  language  which  answered 
to  their  "sentiment.'"  "  No,"  he  said,  "  there  is  no  English 
word,  but  the  Irish  have  one  that  corresponds  exactly, — 
'blarney.'1  Considering  who  the  interlocutors  were,  this 
was  inimitable.  It  is  supposed  to  be  Lord  Castlereagh's 
one  good  thing.  Then  he  showed  a  beautiful  portrait  of 
Guizot,  so  like  him.  The  other  day  Guizot  was  sitting  at 

dinner  next  a  Madame  M ,  who  has  just  written  a  novel, 

on  which  she  imagines  herself  to  have  founded  a  literary  repu- 
tation. She  wished  to  extend  a  little  patronage  to  her  next 
neighbor,  so  began,  '^Etvous,  monsieur,  est-ce  que  vous  avez 
ecrit  quelque  chose?"  "Oui,  madame,  quelques  brochures," 
was  the  cool  reply.  He  walked  with  us  part  of  the  way,  greatly 
rejoicing  in  the  elevation  of  Thirl  wall  to  episcopal  dignity, — 
a  man  every  way  worthy. 

July  20. — Papa  went  on  to  Combe  and  left  us  in  Clifton  ; 
so,  accompanied  by  our  good  friend  Sterling,  we  explored  the 
cathedral  of  Bristol.  Talked  about  the  great  want  of  taste 
for  the  arts  among  the  English,  though  they  have  the  finest 
paintings  (the  Cartoons)  and  noblest  sculptures  (the  Elgin 
Marbles).  Yet  only  the  educated,  and  they  often  only  from 
the  spirit  of  dilettantism  and  fashion,  attempt  to  admire  with 
judgment.  Wandered  into  the  Institution,  and  contemplated 
some  fine  casts  from  the  ^Egina  Marbles  of  the  wars  of  the  Ama- 
zons, also  of  those  from  a  Grecian  temple,  the  originals  of 
which  are  at  Munich.  Some  of  the  learned  consider  them  to 
be  in  masks,  to  account  for  the  tin  impassioned  expressions  of 

F  II 


122  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

their  faces  in  perilous  circumstances.  Sterling  dissents  from 
this  idea, — masks  were  not  at  that  time  invented, — but  recon- 
ciles matters  by  considering  masks  to  be  merely  a  form  of 
speech  used  to  express  the  absence  of  any  attempt  to  render 
the  human  face  in  marble,  which  was,  in  those  modest,  self- 
mistrusting  times,  considered  as  above  and  beyond  the  prov- 
ince of  Art.  He  introduced  us  to  Bailey's  "Eve,"  con- 
sidered the  best  specimen  of  modern  sculpture,  and  truly  a 
most  lovely,  expressive,  altogether  womanly  creature.  She  is 
in  the  act  of  contemplating  her  charms  reflected  in  the  water, 
as  hinted  at  by  Milton.  Then,  the  Dying  Gladiator  called 
forth  some  good  remarks ;  this  figure  is  the  perfection  of  the. 
animal  man,  a  perfect  mechanical  example  of  the  species.  To 
increase  the  love  of  art  in  England  he  would  have  good  en- 
gravings and  casts,  if  not  paintings,  attached  to  mechanics' 
institutes. 

Talked  about  J.  Wilson  Croker.  He  is  a  worshipper  of  chan- 
deliers and  wealth  in  all  its  forms,  and  withal  is  the  supposed 
author  of  that  article  in  the  "  Quarterly"  of  which  John  Keats 
died.  Talked  about  sculpture  and  pictures  in  churches,  which 
he  rather  likes  than  otherwise,  thinking  them  calculated  to  fix 
the  attention  and  give  a  direction  to  the  devotion  of  the  un- 
educated. On  the  "  No  Popery"  cry:  there  is  thus  much  in 
it  by  way  of  groundwork  ;  all  positive  forms  of  religion  are,  in 
this  thinking  age,  preferred  to  indifference ;  hence  Roman 
Catholicism  extends  its  influence  and  infidelity  likewise.  On 
the  probable  ultimate  religious  faith  of  countries,  now  pro- 
fessedly Catholic,  but  really  unbelieving  in  a  great  measure : 
he  thinks  they  will  become  rather  of  the  creed  of  la  giovane 
Italia,  a  belief  poetical  and  German,  of  which  Silvio  Pellico 
is  a  worthy  representative.  Carlyle  was  not  a  little  astonished 
the  other  day  at  a  man  informing  him  with  deep  gratitude  that 
his  works  had  converted  him  from  Quakerism,  in  which  he 
had  been  brought  up,  to  Benthamism,  and  from  that  to  Roman 
Catholicism  !  Talked  about  the  Mills.  It  is  a  new  thing  for 
John  Mill  to  sympathize  with  religious  characters ;  some  years 
since,  he  had  so  imbibed  the  errors  which  his  father  instilled 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  123 

into  him  as  to  be  quite  a  bigot  against  religion.     Sterling 
thinks  he  was  never  in  so  good  a  state  as  now. 

He  told  us  a  story  which  Samuel  Wilberforce  mentioned  to 
him  the  other  day.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  ex- 
amining a  Girls'  National  School,  and,  not  being  a  man  of 
ready  speech,  he  ran  through  the  gamut  of  suitable  openings : 
"  My  dear  young  friends — My  dear  girls — My  dear  young 
catechumens — My  dear  Christian  friends — My  dear  young 
female  women  :"  the  gamut  goes  no  higher.  Then  we  trotted 
off  to  St.  Stephens,  J.  Sterling  declaring  that  he  knew  we  were 
the  walkingest  young  women  wot  is, — a  nice  character. 

July  21. — John  Sterling  appeared  at  breakfast.  Last  night 
he  was  very  much  exhausted,  for,  as  it  was- his  birthday,  his 
children  expected  him  first  to  play  wolf  and  afterwards  to  tell 
them  stories.  He  and  papa  discussed  the  Corn  Laws,  in 
which  papa  is  much  more  Conservative  than  he  is.  He  talked 
extremely  well  about  popular  education.  It  is  not  those  who 
read  simply,  but  those  who  think,  who  become  enlightened. 
Real  education  had  such  an  effect  in  restraining  and  civilizing 
men,  that  in  America  no  police  force  is  employed  where  edu- 
cation is  general.  In  a  democracy  it  is  all-important;  for, 
as  that  represents  the  will  of  the  people,  you  must  surely  make 
that  will  as  reasonable  as  possible.  Looked  over  some  port- 
folios of  drawings, — the.  angular  style  of  drapery,  picturesque 
because  not  statuesque.  Asked  him  concerning  his  belief  in 
ghosts  :  "Of  course  I  believe  in  them.  We  are  all  spectres  ; 
the  difference  between  us  is  that  some  can  see  themselves  as 
well  as  others.  We  are  all  shadows  in  the  magic-lantern  of 
Time."  When  S.  T.  Coleridge  was  asked  the  same  question, 
he  replied,  "  No,  ma'am,  I've  seen  too  many  of  them."  Then 
we  gravely  discussed  the  subject :  he  imagines  the  number  of 
cases  in  favor  of  the  common  belief  in  ghosts  to  bear  no  pro- 
portion to  those  where  ideal  ghosts  have  been  seen  and  no 
answering  reality  or  coincidence  to  be  found.  As  in  the  temple 
of  Neptune,  where  the  votive  offerings  were  displayed  of  many 
who  had  been  saved  from  shipwreck  on  praying  to  Neptune : 
"But  where,"  asked  the  sceptic,  "are  the  records  of  those 


124 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


who  prayed  to  Neptune  and  were  drowned?"  And  so  Ster- 
ling went  away,  leaving  us  many  tangible  proofs  of  his  kind 
remembrance,  in  portfolios  full  of  engravings,  "  to  keep  for 
three  years  if  you  like." 

August  3. — J.  Sterling  has  made  up  his  mind  not  to  go  to 
Italy. 

Falmouth,  August  7. — Dr.  Bowring  paid  us  a  charming  little 
visit.  He  spoke  of  the  National  Convention:  he  has  been 
much  blamed  for  countenancing  such  apolitical  union,  but  he 
thinks  the  enthusiasm  manifested  therein  not  only  excusable 
but  necessary,  as  it  rouses  the  quiet  philosophical  thinkers  to 
do  well  what  they  see  would  otherwise  be  done  in  a  very  un- 
systematic fashion,  and  so  the  work  makes  progress.  He 
spoke  of  Mill  with  evident  contempt  as  a  renegade  from 
philosophy, — Anglice,  a  renouncer  of  Bentham's  creed  and  an 
expounder  of  Coleridge's.  S.  T.  Coleridge's  mysticism  Dr. 
Bowring  never  could  understand,  and  characterizes  much  of 
his  teaching  as  a  great  flow  of  empty  eloquence,  to  which  no 
meaning  was  attachable.  Mill's  newly-developed  "  Imagina- 
tion" puzzles  him  not  a  little;  he  was  most  emphatically  a 
philosopher,  but  then  he  read  Wordsworth,  and  that  muddled 
him,  and  he  has  been  in  a  strange  confusion  ever  since,  en- 
deavoring to  unite  poetry  and  philosophy. 

Dr.  Bowring  has  lately  had  to  look  over  multitudes  of  James 
Mill's,  Bentham's,  and  Romilly's  letters,  in  which  there  are 
many  allusions  to  the  young  prodigy  who  read  Plato  at  five 
years  old.  The  elder  Mill  was  stern,  harsh,  and  sceptical. 
Bentham  said  of  him,  "  He  rather  hated  the  ruling  few  than 
loved  the  suffering  many."  He  was  formerly  a  Scotch  farmer, 
patronized  for  his  mental  power  by  Sir  John  Stuart,  who  had 
the  credit  of  directing  his  education.  For  Carlyle  Dr.  Bow- 
ring  professes  a  respect,  in  so  far  as  he  calls  people's  attention, 
with  some  power,  to  the  sufferings  of  the  many,  and  points 
out  where  sympathy  is  wanted ;  but  he  regards  him  as  igno- 
rant of  himself  and  sometimes  of  his  meaning,  for  his  writings 
are  full  of  odd,  unintelligible  entanglements,  and  all  truth  is 
simple.  "  The  further  men  wander  from  simplicity,  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  125 

further  are  they  from  Truth."  This  is  the  last  of  Dr.  Bow- 
ring's  recorded  axioms.  He  is  Bentham's  executor,  and  is 
bringing  out  a  new  edition  of  his  works.  He  lives  in  the 
Queen's  Square,  where  Milton's  house  still  stands,  and  the 
garden  in  which  he  mused  still  flourishes,  as  much  as  London 
smoke  will  let  it. 

August  18. — At  Helston  ;  called  on  the  Derwent  Cole- 
ridges.  He  is  much  interested  in  Carlyle,  though  of  course 
he  does  not  sympathize  with  him  in  many  things.  He  thinks 
his  style  has  the  faultiness  peculiar  to  self-taught  men, — an 
inequality  ;  sometimes  uttering  gorgeous  pieces  of  eloquence 
and  deep  and  everlasting  truths,  at  others  spending  equal 
strength  in  announcing  the  merest  trivialities.  Then,  again, 
he  thinks  that  he  hardly  ever  modifies  his  manner  to  suit  his 
matter, — an  essential  to  excellence  in  art. 

August  20. — Dined  at  the  Taylors'  to  meet  a  very  agree- 
able Prussian  family,  the  Count  and  Countess  Beust,  with  their 
sister  and  cousin.  The  countess  talked  about  Schlegel,  whom 
they  know  very  well  at  Bonn.  He  gives  a  course  of  lectures 
every  year,  sometimes  for  gentlemen  only,  with  a  license  to  a 
few  to  bring  their  wives  ;  at  others  only  for  ladies,  with  a 
similar  proviso  for  some  husbands.  The  last  series  was  on 
German  Criticism.  She  had  not  met  Elizabeth  Fry,  but 
heard  her  spoken  of  with  enthusiasm  by  one  of  her  friends 
who  had  made  her  acquaintance.  The  count  is  a  most  ener- 
getic, clever,  bright  person,  and  full  of  laudable  curiosity. 
He  was  vastly  entertained  at  our  making  such  a  fuss  about  the 
miners'  ascending  troubles,  and  yet  he  is  Government  Mine 
Inspector  of  the  Hartz  !  Also,  he  was  very  merry  at  the  Eng- 
lish plan  of  drinking  healths  with  the  adjunct  "  Hip  !  hip  ! 
hip !"  which  they  are  accustomed  only  to  hear  applied  to  the 
Jews. 


11* 


CHAPTER  VII. 
1841. 

"  I  see  the  lords  of  human  kind  pass  by." — GOLDSMITH. 

Falmouth,  January  27. — To  our  great  surprise  and  pleasure, 
Dr.  Calvert  suddenly  appeared  among  us  ;  though  only  an 
hour  landed,  he  declared  himself  already  better  for  Falmouth 
air  ;  certainly  he  looks  better. 

January  30. — He  spent  much  of  the  morning  with  us,  and 
he  proved  to  us  most  satisfactorily  that  mankind,  up  to  those 
who  take  wooden  meeting-houses  to  kangaroo  districts,  and 
ranging  downwards  without  limitation,  are  not  exempt  from 
that  sorrowful  consequence  of  Eve's  improper  and  useless 
conduct, — a  tendency  to  deceive  and  a  liability  to  be  de- 
ceived. 

January  31. — Dr.  Calvert  has  been  taking  a  malicious  pleas- 
ure in  collecting  primroses  and  strawberry  flowers  to  send  to 
his  sister  as  evidences  of  climate.  Talked  of  Carlyle.  He 
found  it  would  not  do  to  be  much  with  him,  his  views  took 
such  hold  on  him  and  affected  his  spirits.  None  but  those  of 
great  buoyancy  and  vigor  of  constitution  should,  he  thinks, 
subject  themselves  to  his  depressing  influences.  Carlyle  takes 
an  anxious  forlorn  view  of  his  own  physical  state,  and  said  to 
him  one  day,  "  Well,  I  can't  wish  Satan  anything  worse  than 
to  try  to  digest  for  all  eternity  with  my  stomach  ;  we  shouldn't 
want  fire  and  brimstone  then." 

February  2. — Dr.  Calvert  descanted  on  the  vicarious  nature 
of  the  system  in  physical  life  :  the  balancing  power  which 
exists  in  the  body ;  if  one  part  is  weak,  another  is  proportion- 
ally strong ;  if  the  cutaneous  action  goes  on  too  vigorously,  it 
draws  on  the  stomach,  and  there  is  bad  digestion,  and  vice 
versa.  If  the  brain  is  too  much  worked,  the  health  gives 
126 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  12"] 

way ;  the  only  method  of  adjusting  this  is,  when  you  devote 
yourself  to  head-work,  be  doubly  careful  about  diet,  exercise, 
cleanliness,  etc.  He  entered  into  much  illustrative  compara- 
tive anatomy.  He  described  a  curious  old  record  he  has  lately 
picked  up,  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  New  Testament,  con- 
taining an  Apocalypse  of  St.  Peter,  divers  epistles,  and  the 
germs  of  certain  strange  Roman  Catholic  legends.  There  is 
a  fine  tone  of  primitive  Christianity  discernible  throughout, 
but,  after  much  grave  debate,  it  was  not  deemed  of  canonical 
authority.  He  talked  with  a  certain  Carlylesqtieness  of  the 
clergy  versus  men  of  letters,  and  says  that  in  Holland  educa- 
tion is  conducted  on  more  liberal  principles  than  in  any  other 
country,  and  there  not  a  single  clergyman  has  even  a  little 
finger  in  the  pie. 

February  8. — A  thaw  came  on,  and  Dr.  Calvert  crept  in. 
Talked  much  of  the  Germans ;  Goethe's  definition  of  the  pure 
Mdhrchen  as  a  tale  in  which  you  are  to  be  in  no  wise  reminded 
of  the  actualities  of  existence ;  every  passage  must  be  super- 
natural, the  persons  all  inhabitants  of  a  witch-world.  This 
he  has  illustrated  in  the  one  which  Carlyle  has  translated. 
He  made  me  a  present  of  "  Hermann  and  Dorothea."  Papa 
and  he  agree  in  believing  that  the  doings  of  this  world,  and 
the  phenomena  we  call  action  and  reaction,  are  but  manifesta- 
tions of  some  great  cyclical  law,  profoundly  unknown  but  not 
unfelt. 

February  12. — Instructive  exhibition  of  the  comparative 
anatomy  of  the  stomachs  of  a  Brent  goose  and  a  diver :  the 
former  lives  on  fuci,  and  is  accordingly  provided  with  amaz- 
ingly strong  muscles  of  digestion  ;  the  other  depends  on  fish, 
and,  though  a  much  larger  bird,  its  stomach  is  far  smaller  and 
less  muscular.  Dr.  Calvert  took  seventeen  fish  out  of  it. 

February  18. — Our  afternoon  visit  to  Bank  House  was  en- 
livened by  Dr.  Calvert's  presence  and  occasional  outbreak 
into  words.  He  talked  on  medical  subjects ;  the  prescription 
of  red  cloth  for  smallpox  and  some  other  diseases  has  only 
been  discontinued  quite  lately.  Dr.  Jephson  is  no  quack,  he 
only  trains  the  stomach  to  perform  its  functions  rapidly ;  the 


128  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

patient  must  take  beef-steaks  and  porter,  but  then  he  must 
take  plenty  of  exercise  too  ;  on  leaving  Leamington  he  is  apt 
to  remember  only  the  first  part  of  the  prescription,  and  ac- 
cordingly falls  into  a  very  sorry  state  of  oppression  and 
discomfort.  I  am  exceedingly  enjoying  Boz's  "  Master  Hum- 
phrey's Clock,"  which  is  still  in  progress.  That  man  is  carry- 
ing out  Carlyle's  work  more  emphatically  than  any  ;  he  forces 
the  sympathies  of  all  into  unwonted  channels,  and  teaches  us 
that  Punch  and  Judy  men,  beggar  children,  and  daft  old  men 
are  also  of  our  species,  and  are  not,  more  than  ourselves,  re- 
moved from  the  sphere  of  the  heroic.  He  is  doing  a  world 
of  good  in  a  very  healthy  way. 

March  3. — Dr.  Calvert  announces  the  coming  of  his  friend 
Sterling  next  week.  He  talked  of  their  first  intercourse  in 
Madeira.  John  Sterling  had  heard  of  him  as  eccentric  and 
fancied  him  Calvinistic,  and  in  fact  did  not  fancy  him.  They 
met  at  the  house  of  a  very  worthy  lady,  who  argued  with  Sterling 
on  points  connected  with  Calvinism.  Dr.  Calvert  was  a  silent 
listener,  but  at  last  shoved  a  German  book,  which  he  was  read- 
ing, right  under  John  Sterling's  nose,  the  significance  of  which 
made  him  start  and  see  that  he  had  read  him  wrongly.  A 
warm  friendship  almost  instantly  resulted,  and  they  soon  took 
up  their  abode  together. 

March  6. — Dr.  Calvert  told  us  interesting  things  of  the 
Jesuits.  When  he  was  ill  in  Rome,  one  came  to  him  and 
begged  to  be  made  useful  in  any  way.  "Thank  you,  sir,  I 
have  a  servant ;  pray  don't  trouble  yourself."  "  Sir,  my  pro- 
fession is  to  serve."  They  are  picked  men  from  childhood, 
and  brought  up  at  every  stage  in  the  strictest  school  of  un- 
questioning submission  to  authority  and  a  fixed  idea.  The 
Roman  Catholic  priests  are  always  better  or  worse  than  the 
Protestant  clergy, — either  intensely  devoted  to  God  and  their 
neighbor,  or  sly,  covetous,  and  sensual. 

March  7. — Little  Tweedy  and  Bastin,  two  beautiful  boy- 
children,  to  dinner;  the  theory  of  the  latter  concerning  his 
majority  is  that  in  twenty  months  from  this  time  (he  being 
QOW  of  the  mature  age  of  four)  he  shall  awake  and  find  him- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  129 

self  a  man.  He  concludes  he  shall  have  to  pass  three  days  in 
bed  whilst  new  clothes  are  being  made. 

March  8. — In  our  ride  to-day  Dr.  Calvert  talked  of  Savo- 
narola, his  influence  over  all  the  highest  minds  at  Florence 
and  elsewhere.  Luther  was  the  first  who  revived  the  convic- 
tion that  it  was  the  inward  principle,  rather  than  the  outward 
manifestation  of  forms  or  ceremonies,  to  which  Christ  claimed 
man's  loyalty, — the  heart  rather  than  the  senses  which  should 
do  him  homage.  This  sublime  and  all-important  truth  was 
only  revealed  to  him  by  degrees  :  he  began  attacking  abuses, 
and  was  mightily  startled  at  finding  that  the  principle  was  in 
fault :  he  was  frightened  at  the  work  before  him,  and  not  less 
alarmed  as  the  work  proceeded,  fancying  that  he  did  more 
harm  than  good  by  the  stir  of  thought  which  he  had  impelled 
throughout  Europe.  This  alarm  was  perfectly  natural,  and  it 
was  natural  too  that  evil  should  be  evolved  in  the  process, — 
natural  and  almost  necessary.  There  has  been  through  all 
time  a  constant  hankering  after  the  law  as  opposed  to  the  gos- 
pel ;  it  has  been  perpetually  restored  in  some  form  or  other : 
one  form  wears  itself  out,  then  a  master-mind  arises,  teaches  a 
pure  principle,  and  can  only  transmit  it  by  a  new  form,  which 
in  its  turn  wears  out  and  dies,  and  another  takes  its  place. 
Form  is  in  its  nature  transitory,  but  the  living  principle  is 
eternal. 

March  13. — The  Doctor  at  breakfast-  again  ;  he  actually 
drinks  tea  like  any  other  Christian.  He  talks  of  going  to 
Kynance  or  somewhere  to  rusticate  for  a  little,  probably  as 
a  place  of  refuge.  He  described  the  present  Lord  Spencer's 
mode  of  proceeding  when  his  good  nature  has  been  grossly 
imposed  on.  A  confidential  butler  was  discovered  to  have 
omitted  paying  the  bills  for  which  he  had  received  about  two 
thousand  pounds :  this  came  to  light  in  an  investigation  pre- 
paratory to  settling  a  life-annuity  on  him.  Dr.  Calvert  asked 
Lord  Spencer,  "Well,  what  shall  you  do  now?"  "Oh,  I 
shall  settle  the  annuity  on  his  wife:  I  can't  afford  to  lose  two 
thousand  pounds  and  my  temper  besides."  In  early  life  Lord 
Spencer  was  accustomed  to  give  full  sway  to  his  passions,  and 


I30 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


his  love  of  popularity  was  very  conspicuous.  He  has  taken  a 
true  estimate  of  his  own  character  and  made  a  fine  stand  against 
the  evil  part  of  his  nature  :  thus,  an  act  like  this  was  port  wine 
and  bark  to  his  moral  system.  On  the  question  being  mooted, 
"  Is  such  conduct  morally  right  in  a  social  system?"  the  Doc- 
tor replied,  "  Why,  charity  begins  at  home  :  if  I  should  lose 
my  temper  in  punishing  a  man,  it  would  be  an  evil  hardly 
counterbalanced  by  the  advantage  his  suffering  would  be  to 
society.  I  would  never  punish  a  man  till  I  was  sure  I  would 
not  disturb  my  temper,  nor  unless  it  were  likely  to  do  him 
good."  This  is,  of  course,  very  liable  to  abuse  from  weak, 
kind-hearted  people,  but  what  principle  is  not  ?  The  diffi- 
culty of  ascertaining  the  narrow  line  of  safety  may  never  be  a 
sound  argument  against  a  principle :  the  highest  are  the  most 
beset  with  perils. 

March  16. — A  nice  long  gossiping  breakfast  visit  from  Dr. 
Calvert.  He  has  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Penzance  and 
see  how  it  suits  him.  We  shall  miss  him  much.  He  talked 
with  some  enthusiasm  of  the  true  Mahrchen  nature  of  Tom 
Thumb,  Jack  the  Giant-Killer,  etc.  "As  I  have  none  to  talk 
nonsense  with  but  the  dead,  let  me  have  such  things  as  these 
to  amuse  some  of  my  idleness.  When  a  sedate  friend  has 
caught  me  thus  employed,  and  sharply  rebuked  me  for  such 
mal-occupation  of  my  time,  and  I  have  gone  home  with  him 
into  his  family  and  heard  him  talking  the  veriest  nonsense  to 
his  children,  I  have  felt  fully  countenanced  in  continuing  my 
amusement." 

March  18. — The  Doctor  went  away  this  morning,  leaving  a 
farewell  note.  He  speaks  of  half  envying  a  simple  friend  of 
ours  who  told  .him  this  morning  that  she  had  never  been 
farther  than  Redruth,  and  on  his  asking  her  if  she  were  born 
here  (meaning  Falmouth,  not  his  house),  she  answered,  "  Oh, 
no,  sir,  down  below  in  the  town." 

March  29. — Barclay  heard  from  Sterling  on  his  way  to  Tor- 
quay. He  writes  in  the  highest  terms  of  Carlyle's  volume  of 
lectures  ;  thinks  it  more  popular  and  likely  to  do  more  good 
than  any  of  his  other  books. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  131 

April  i. — Charming  letter  to  Anna  Maria  from  J.  Sterling, 
in  which  he  compares  the  contemporary  genius  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  Luther ;  something  of  the  Coleridge  versus  Ben- 
tham  spirit :  both  fine,  original,  and  clear,  though  opposite 
and  apparently  contradictory  poles  of  one  great  force. 

April  10. — At  about  seven  o'clock,  what  was  our  delight 
and  astonishment  to  meet  John  Sterling  in  the  drawing-room, 
just  come  per  "Sir  Francis  Drake"  steamer,  looking  well, 
though  anything  but  vigorous,  and  going  almost  directly  to 
Dr.  Calvert.  We  exchanged  the  warmest,  kindliest  greetings, 
and  he  agreed  to  lodge  here :  so  we  had  an  evening  with 
plenty  of  talk.  I  wish  I  could  preserve  something  of  the  form 
of  Sterling's  eloquence  as  well  as  the  subject  of  it."  To  begin 
with  a  definition,  Sterling  is  derived  from  Easterling,  a  trading 
nation  of  Lombards  who  settled  in  England  ;  hence  pounds 
sterling,  etc.  He  doubts  whether  there  was  one  murder  in 
Ireland  on  strictly  religious  grounds.  With  respect  to  the 
present  condition  of  the  Irish,  he  remarked,  "It  is  a  hard 
thing  to  convince  conquerors  that  they  are  responsible  for  the 
vices  of  the  conquered.  More  infidelity  has  been  learned 
from  the  reading  of  Church  history  than  from  any  other  source, 
— from  the  weak  and  futile  attempts  to  prove  too  much  and  to 
brand  all  dissentients  with  quackery  or  heresy."  Guizot's 
"  Civilization  in  Europe"  the  highest  history  that  has  appeared 
in  modern  times:  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  that  work 
alone  would  constitute  an  educated  and  cultivated  man. 
Michelet  a  much  more  impulsive  writer  ;  falls  in  love  with  his 
own  thick-coming  fancies,  and  dallies  with  them  to  the  fatigue 
of  third  parties  !  Talked  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  the  sad 
meanness  and  jealousy  of  his  character :  he  was  desperately 
jealous  of  Leibnitz,  and  retracted  an  eulogistic  mention  of  him 
in  later  editions  of  his  works.  Knows  George  Richmond  well : 
he  is  painting  portraits  till  he  can  afford  to  devote  himself  to 
historical  painting  and  live  in  Italy.  He  has  lately  done  one 
of  Christ  and  the  disciples  at  Emmaus,  but  there  is  not  inci- 
dent enough  in  the  scene  to  explain  itself  without  the  words, 
— an  essential  consideration. 


I32 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


April  ii. — Got  up  at  six  o'clock  to  make  coffee  for 
Sterling.  As  the  talk  fell  on  Luther,  he  sketched  a  fine  im- 
aginary picture  of  him  at  the  moment  of  seeing  his  friend 
struck  by  lightning.  It  must  happen  at  the  junction  of  two 
roads, — one  dark,  but  for  the  tree  to  which  the  lightning 
had  set  fire ;  frightened  animals  peering  through  the  flames, 
painted  indistinctly  to  remind  us  of  fiends, — his  friend  being 
in  this  road  dead  :  the  other  road,  which  Luther  takes,  the  sun 
shines  upon,  and  you  see  it  winding  in  the  distance  till  it 
ascends  to  the  monastery,  at  the  top  of  which  is  a  shining 
cross  which  the  rays  of  the  sun  have  caught.  He  spoke  of 
Savonarola  as  a  Roman  Catholic  Puritan,  a  hard  and  narrow- 
minded  enthusiast.  His  influence  over  the  high  spirits  of  his 
age  was  the  effect  of  his  conscientiousness  simply  ;  conscience 
ever  must  and  will  command  reverence  and  influence  without 
limit ;  it  was  curious  enough  that  he  should  be  the  great  de- 
stroyer of  pictures,  and  a  portrait  of  him  by  Raphael  was  the 
.amende  honorable  which  the  next  Pope  paid  to  his  memory. 
Talked  of  the  dry,  hard  spirit  of  modern  Unitarianism,  and 
recommended  Wordsworth's  poetry  or  Barclay's  "Apology" 
for  such  a  case.  Carlyle  has  been  staying  in  the  Isle  of  Wight 
with  his  brother,  Dr.  Carlyle,  who  is  a  man  of  no  paradox, 
prejudice,  or  genius  like  his  brother,  but  possesses  strong  sense 
and  sound  judgment.  With  reference  to  the  miraculous  power 
pretended  for  some  of  the  Fathers  and  their  relics,  it  is  curi- 
ous that  none  of  the  Fathers  themselves  ever  assumed  the 
power ;  it  was  left  for  tradition  and  their  bones. 

April  19. — Between  the  hours  of  nine  and  ten,  Sterling  re- 
turned from  Penzance.  He  is  come  to  look  at  some  habita- 
tions with  an  eye  to  inhabitancy.  He  told  us  Dr.  Calvert  has 
been  depressed  and  poorly  for  some  time.  Spoke  of  ladies 
taking  notes  at  Carlyle's  lectures,  of  dates,  not  thoughts,  and 
these  all  wrong.  On  the  law  having  a  right  to  inquire  about 
belief  in  future  rewards  and  punishments  with  reference  to 
administering  the  oaths.  The  idea  of  connecting  religious 
belief  with  the  law  of  the  land,  utterly  preposterous ;  yet  Sir 
Matthew  Hale's  narrow-minded  dictum,  that  whoever  would 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  133 

not  subscribe  to  the  creed  could  not  be  a  good  subject,  has 
been  a  precedent  for  after-lawyers.  A  drawing  of  Shelley 
being  produced,  he  remarked,  "What  an  absence  of  solidity 
in  the  expression  of  that  face  !"  When  at  college,  Sterling 
had  venerated  and  defended  Shelley  as  a  moralist  as  well  as  a 
poet,  "  being  rather  youthy."  Whenever  Shelley  attempted 
to  enter  into  a  real  human  character,  it  was  a  monstrous  one, 
— the  Cenci,  for  instance.  He  was  only  at  home  and  freely 
breathing  in  a  quite  abstract  empyrean.  Shelley's  head  was 
most  strangely  shaped, — quite  straight  at  the  back. 

April  20. — Sterling  asked  if  we  had  seen  "Trench  on  the 
Parables,"  a  very  interesting  work,  though  he  cannot  sympa- 
thize with  the  idea  that  every  expression  and  every  feature  in 
the  parables  is  intended  to  bear  a  moral  significance,  but  thinks 
they  are  often  added  for  the  completeness  and  picturesqueness 
of  the  story.  Some  talk  on  capital  punishment  ;  his  views 
much  more  worthy  of  him  than  last  year.  Of  the  many  mys- 
teries in  Germany  and  elsewhere  :  after  thoroughly  examining 
the  subject,  he  believes  that  Caspar  Hauser  was  an  impostor. 
The  Iron  Mask  much  more  fascinating,  but  unluckily  there  was 
no  prince  in  Europe  missing  at  that  time.  Spoke  complain- 
ingly  of  the  critical  spirit  superinduced  by  trying  to  perfect 
his  own  writings.  Of  Mrs.  Carlyle's  quizzeries,  he  thinks 
she  puts  them  forth  as  such  evident  fictions  that  they  cannot 
mislead  with  reference  to  the  characters  of  others.  Talked 
about  men  of  science  :  he  does  not  wish  to  attend  the  British 
Association  ;  such  would  be  the  hurry  and  bustle  that  it  would 
only  be  like  intercourse  on  a  treadmill.  He  called  Whewell 
(with  whom  he  is  well  acquainted)  a  great  mass  of  prose,  a 
wonderful  collection  of  facts.  Whewell  once  declared  that 
he  could  see  no  difference  between  mechanic  and  dynamic 
theories,  and  yet  the  man  reads  Kant,  has  domesticated  some 
of  his  ideas,  and  thinks  himself  a  German.  Sedgwick  he 
owns  to  be  of  a  different  stamp,  a  little  vein  of  genius  running 
through  his  granite.  He  knows  the  Countess  Beust  well ;  she 
was  the  woman  at  Bonn  whose  manners  he  thought  most  cal- 
culated to  make  society  agreeable.  Schlegel  had  clear  poetic 


134 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


feeling  and  a  fine  insight,  which  enabled  him  to  give  those 
masterly  criticisms  on  Shakespeare,  till  Madame  de  Stael  came 
in  his  way,  and  by  her  plaudits  of  "societe,  esprit,"  etc.,  he 
learnt  to  think  that  for  such  things  man  was  to  live  !  He  has 
therefore  turned  his  energies  all  that  way,  and  is  now  about 
the  vainest  man  in  Europe.  Beau  Brummel  once  plaintively 
remarked,  "The  ladies  !  they  ruin  all  my  wigs  by  begging 
locks."  When  Calvert  reads  "  Tom  Thumb,"  he  (Sterling) 
betakes  himself  to  Moliere.  He  thinks  "The  Misanthrope" 
his  best,  and  considers  that  all  the  din  and  stir  of  French 
Revolutionism  is  prefigured  in  it.  Speaking  of  the  advantage 
of  reading  on  familiar  subjects  in  foreign  languages,  he  said 
he  knew  a  lady  who  learned  German  on  purpose  to  read 
Luther's  Bible.  At  last  the  word  was  "  Farewell,"  as  he  went 
to  Perran  with  Aunt  Charles. 

April  26. — At  about  one  o'clock  J.  Sterling  entered  and 
announced  that  he  had  bought  Dr.  Donnelly's  house  !  How 
little  did  we  think  of  such  a  climax  a  month  since  !  and  even 
new  I  can't  realize  it.  They  intend  moving  early  in  the  sum- 
mer. We  talked  about  motives ;  he  does  not  like  too  much 
self-scrutiny,  and  would  rather  advise,  "  Take  the  best  and 
wisest  course,  do  what  you  know  is  right,  and  then  don't  puz- 
zle yourself  in  weighing  your  motives  :  forget  yourself  in  the 
object  of  your  striving  as  much  as  possible ;  any  examination 
that  brings  Self  under  any  colors  into  the  foreground  is  bad." 
I  don't  altogether  agree  with  him  here,  for  a  hearty  sincere 
inlook  tends,  I  think,  in  no  manner  to  self-glorification.  He 
talked  of  the  strange  breaking-up  of  sects  and  bodies  every- 
where remarkable,  with  a  half-melancholy  sagacity,  mixed  with 
wondering  uncertainty.  There  is  so  much  of  the  destructive 
spirit  abroad  that  the  creative,  or  at  least  the  constructive, 
must  be  cherished.  After  a  very  interesting  hour  or  two,  we 
separated. 

April  29. — Very  bright  note  from  Sterling  with  reference 
to  his  talk  with  mamma  about  dress.  He  says,  "  I  would  cut 
off  all  my  buttons  to  please  her." 

May  5. — J.  Sterling  arrived  last  evening.     We  went  all  over 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  j^- 

his  comfortable  house  with  him,  and  were  his  assistants  in 
choosing  papers,  positions  of  store  cupboards,  and  other  im- 
portant arrangements.  He  spent  the  evening  here.  Much 
pleasant  conversation,  but  little  to  record.  Spoke  of  the  in- 
fluence of  books,  and  of  Carlyle's  remark,  "  that  every  one 
who  read  a  novel  from  the  Minerva  Press  had  his  or  her  life 
more  or  less  colored  by  it;"  this  he  made  more  precise  by 
saying,  "  Though  the  pattern  of  the  mind  may  not  be  changed, 
yet  its  tinting  probably  is,  by  every  object  that  even  tempo- 
rarily takes  hold  on  the  feelings."  He  has  such  a  genuine 
enthusiasm  for  art,  and  traces  his  love  of  sculpture  to  two 
figures  in  their  Paris  dining-room,  which  rooted  themselves 
into  his  sympathies  when  quite  a  boy.  How  he  revelled  in 
the  casts  from  the  Elgin  Marbles  this  evening  ! 

May  6. — Busy  gardening  at  "  Sterling  Castle  ;"  after  which 
its  governor  joined  us  in  a  sauntering  ride.  He  was  talking 
much  to-day  of  his  own  early  life,  when  he  took  a  step  which 
he  has  never  regretted.  His  parents  designed  him  for  the 
bar,  and  raised  their  hopes  high  on  this  foundation  ;  but  when 
he  decided  that  he  could  not  honestly  accept  this  for  his  pro- 
fession, because  he  knew  well  how  specially  dangerous  to  his 
temperament  would  be  the  snare  of  it,  he  had  to  disappoint 
them  by  telling  them  he  must  absolutely  give  up  all  thoughts 
of  the  law  for  his  career.  He  seems  to  consider  that  this 
choice  or  renunciation  laid  the  foundation  for  a  steady  pref- 
erence of  the  highest  above  all  earthly  and  present  ambitions 
and  advantages.  He  thinks  Barclay's  poetical  power  is  deep- 
ening perceptibly;  a  greater  steadiness  of  aim  and  less  ver- 
bosity are  its  growing  characteristics.  Spoke  of  J.  S.  Mill  and 
his  wonderful  faculties;  "he  is  like  a  windmill,  to  which  he 
can  always  apply  water-power ;"  this  he  attributes  in  great 
measure  to  his  early  education,  when  mental  control  was  the 
thing  aimed  at. 

May  7. — J.  Sterling  busy  gardening  with  us :  talked  over 
many  people.  Of  Buxton's  civilization  scheme  :  he  has  little 
faith  that  the  savages  of  Africa  will  perceive  the  principles  of 
political  economy,  when  we  remember  the  fact  that  the  highly- 


I36  MEMORIES    OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

educated  classes  of  England  oppose  the  alteration  of  the  corn 
laws.  What  he  would  recommend  is  the  establishment  of 
British  empire  in  Africa,  to  be  accomplished  by  alliances  with 
the  natives  in  their  different  international  wars,  though  he 
does  not  expect  us  to  agree  with  him  here.  Much  discourse 
on  special  providences,  a  doctrine  which  he  totally  disbe- 
lieves, and  views  the  supporters  of  it  as  in  the  same  degree 
of  moral  development  as  Job's  comforters.  Job,  on  the  con- 
trary, saw  further  ;  he  did  not  judge  of  the  Almighty's  aspect 
towards  him  by  any  worldly  afflictions  or  consolations ;  he 
saw  somewhat  into  the  inner  secret  of  his  providence,  and  so 
could  say,  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  We 
must  look  for  the  hand  of  his  providence  alike  in  all  dispen- 
sations, however  mysterious  to  us.  Every  movement  here  has 
its  first  impulse  in  heaven  ;  though,  like  a  pure  ether,  it  may  be 
contaminated  or  altogether  changed  by  collision  with  the  at- 
mosphere of  this  world,  yet  its  origin  is  divine.  Thus,  on  the 
ruins  of  the  doctrine  of  particular  providences  may  be  built  up 
our  belief  in  the  constant  superintendence  and  activity  of  our 
Infinite  Father;  and,  though  some  highly-extolled  species  of 
faith  may  lose  their  value  for  us,  we  shall,  instead  of  them, 
see  our  entire  dependence  on  Omnipotence  for  every  gift, 
however  trifling,  and  feel  that  he  doeth  all  things  transcen- 
dently  well. 

May  8. — To-day  father  received  a  letter  from  Captain  James 
Ross,  informing  him  that  they  have  discovered  the  south  mag- 
netic pole,  a  result  they  could  not  have  attained  without  papa's 
deflector. 

On  Hartley  Coleridge  and  his  beautiful  introduction  to 
Massenger :  S.  T.  Coleridge  once  said  to  Sterling  that  Hart- 
ley often  exhibited  a  sort  of  flat-sharpness,  which  he  did  not 
think  he  derived  from  him,  but  probably  picked  up  from 
Southey.  He  thinks  that  about  "  genius  not  descending  like 
scrofula"  is  a  signal  instance  of  it.  On  the  horrible  in  paint- 
ing and  poetry :  Sterling  thinks  it  inadmissible  in  the  former, 
because  you  can't  get  clear  of  the  painful  impression  by  sub- 
sequent pleasing  ones,  as  you  can  in  poetry.  For  this  reason 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  i^-j 

he  thinks  the  Crucifixion  an  unsuitable  subject  for  a  picture, 
as  physical  suffering  must  be  the  prevailing  sentiment.  He 
has  just  been  reading  "  Memoires  sur  Mirabeau,"  and  in- 
creasingly thinks  with  Carlyle  that  his  sins  are  greatly  exag- 
gerated, that  his  circumstances  were  so  unfavorable  for  the 
cherishing  of  virtuous  sensibilities,  and  so  many  influences 
urged,  nay,  almost  drove,  his  proud  spirit  the  other  way,  that 
we  should  be  lenient  in  our  judgment. 

May  10. — Amusing  day.  J.  Sterling  has  a  friend  and  con- 
nection here,  a  Mr.  Lawrence,*  an  Indian  judge,  and  he 
brought  him  to  call.  India  the  principal  topic.  Lawrence 
was  describing  an  illness  he  had,  in  which  he  was  most  ten- 
derly nursed  and  borne  with  by  his  native  servants.  "Yes," 
said  Sterling,  "  patience,  submission,  fortitude,  are  the  virtues 
that  characterize  an  enslaved  nation  ;  their  magnanimity  and 
heroism  is  all  of  the  passive  kind. ' '  Lawrence  spoke  of  the  sta- 
tionary kind  of  progress  which  Christianity  was  making  among 
them.  When  a  native  embraces  this  new  creed  he  retains  his 
old  inveterate  prejudices,  and  superadds  only  the  liberty  of 
the  new  faith.  This  Lawrence  has  repeatedly  proved, — so 
much  so  that  he  would  on  no  account  take  one  of  these  con- 
verts into  his  service ;  all  his  hope  is  in  the  education  of  the 
children,  who  are  bright  and  intelligent.  The  Indians  will, 
from  politeness,  believe  all  you  tell  them  ;  if  you  speak  of  any 
of  Christ's  miracles  they  make  no  difficulty,  but  directly  detail 
one  more  marvellous,  of  which  Mahomet  was  the  author,  and 
expect  your  civility  of  credence  to  keep  pace  with  theirs.  If 
you  try  to  convince  them  of  any  absurdities  and  inconsisten- 
cies in  the  Koran,  they  stop  you  with,  "Do  you  think  that 
such  a  one  as  I  should  presume  to  understand  it?"  Sterling 
remarked,  "Have  you  never  heard  anything  like  that  in  Eng- 
land ?" 

*  Lawrence  (John  Laird  Mair),  Baron  of  the  Punjaub  and  Grately.  Born  at 
Richmond  in  Yorkshire,  1811.  For  his  services  in  repressing  the  Indian  Mu- 
tiny he  was  created  a  baronet,  also  receiving  a  G.C.B.  and  a  grant  of  two  thou- 
sand pounds  a  year.  In  1863  he  was  created  a  peer.  Was  Viceroy  and  Gov- 
ernor-General of  India,  and,  dying  in  1879,  is  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

12* 


138  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

May  13. — Of  his  friend  Julius  Hare,  and  the  novelties  of 
spelling  which  he  has  ventured  on,  Sterling  remarked  that  his 
principle  is  to  keep  up  the  remembrance  of  the  original  root 
of  the  words :  thus,  he  would  retain  the  u  in  honour,  to  re- 
mind us  of  its  French  extraction.  Our  language  wants  weed- 
ing greatly,  and  the  right  meaning  of  words  should  be  restored 
by  any  one  able  and  willing  for  the  task.  Voltaire  did  won- 
ders for  French  in  this  way. 

May  1 6. — Pleasant  visit  from  Sterling  and  Lawrence.  Dr. 
Calvert  has  had  a  sad  illness,  and  is  coming  here :  Sterling 
will  stay  and  nurse  him.  He  has  just  heard  from  Carlyle, 
who  says  that  the  problem  which  of  all  others  puzzles  him  is 
whether  he  is  created  for  a  destroyer  or  a  prophet.  (Is  he 
not  both,  and  must  not  every  great  man,  if  a  destroyer,  be 
also  a  builder  ?)  Sterling  does  not  at  all  support  his  view  of 
Cromwell  as  a  man  without  ambition,  filled  to  the  last  with 
the  one  idea  of  the  presence  and  government  of  God,  but 
takes  the  common  and  more  rational  view  that  his  aim  was 
pure,  but  that  circumstances  turned  his  head.  What  one 
thing  has  Cromwell  done  for  England,  when  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  do  so  much  ? 

May  20. — After  a  busy  morning  at  Falmouth  and  Flushing, 
Sterling  offered  to  take  us  back  to  Penjerrick  in  his  car.  He 
said,  "  You  must  see  many  eminent  persons:  why  don't  you 
make  notes  of  their  appearance  as  well  as  their  conversation?" 
The  idea  being  good,  I'll  try  my  hand. — John  Sterling  is  a 
man  of  stature,  not  robust,  but  well  proportioned  ;  hair  brown 
and  clinging  closely  around  his  head ;  complexion  very  pale, 
eyes  gray,  nose  beautifully  chiselled,  mouth  very  expressive. 
His  face  is  one  expressing  remarkable  strength,  energy,  and 
refinement  of  character.  In  argument  he  commonly  listens 
to  his  antagonist's  sentiments  with  a  smile,  less  of  conscious 
superiority  than  of  affectionate  contempt  (if  such  a  combina- 
tion may  be), — I  mean  what  would  express,  "  Poor  dear  !  she 
knows  no  better  !"  In  argument  on  deep  or  serious  subjects, 
however,  he  looks  earnest  enough,  and  throws  his  ponderous 
strength  into  reasoning  and  feeling  :  small  chance  then  for 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ,39 

the  antagonist  who  ventures  to  come  to  blows  !  He  can  make 
him  and  his  arguments  look  so  small ;  for,  truth  to  tell,  he 
dearly  loves  this  indomitable  strength  of  his ;  and  I  doubt 
any  human  power  bringing  him  to  an  acknowledgment  of 
mistake  with  the  consequent  conviction  that  the  opposite 
party  was  right.  Sterling  possesses  a  quickness  and  delicacy 
of  perception  quite  feminine,  and  with  it  a  power  of  origi- 
nating deep  and  striking  thoughts,  and  making  them  the 
foundation  of  a  regular  and  compact  series  of  consequences 
and  deductions  such  as  only  a  man,  and  a  man  of  extraor- 
dinary power  of  close  thinking  and  clearness  of  vision,  can 
attain  unto.  He  is  singularly  uninfluenced  by  the  opinions 
of  others,  preferring,  on  the  whole,  to  run  counter  to  them 
than  make  any  approach  to  a  compromise. — We  found  no 
lack  of  conversation  ;  but  really,  as  he  has  become  a  resident, 
I  dare  not  pledge  myself  to  continued  noting.  He  offered 
to-day  to  have  readings  with  us  sometimes,  in  which  his  wife 
would  join.  This  will  be  a  fine  chance  for  us.  He  spoke  of 
there  being  but  three  men  in  England  in  whom  he  could 
perceive  the  true  elements  of  greatness, — Wordsworth,  Car- 
lyle,  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  We  took  poor  Billy,  the 
goat,  a  walk  with  us,  when  Sterling  chose  to  lead  it,  and  pre- 
sented a  curious  spectacle, — his  solemn  manner  with  that 
volatile  kid  ! 

May  24. — Dr.  Calvert  appeared  at  our  Penjerrick  tea-table, 
to  our  great  surprise,  and  talked  very  much  as  if  he  meant  to 
remain  at  Falmouth.  He  says,  "  I  know  when  I  come  to  you 
I  need  not  talk  unless  I  like  it."  Certainly  he  has  rather  lost 
ground  during  his  stay  at  Penzance,  but  he  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  is  not  to  be  well  in  any  climate,  which  he 
says  teaches  him  to  make  the  best  of,  and  be  thankful  for,  the 
one  he  is  in.  He  does  not  agree  with  Carlyle  and  others  who 
think  that  we  all  have  a  message  to  deliver.  "  My  creed  is, 
that  man,  whilst  dwelling  on  the  earth,  is  to  be  instructed  in 
patience,  submission,  humility."  He  and  H.  Molesworth 
dined  with  us,  with  John  Lawrence, — Dr.  Calvert's  mild  wis- 
dom flowing  as  usual  in  its  deep  and  quiet  channel. 


140 


MEMORIES   OF   OLD  FRIENDS. 


Joseph  Bonaparte,  his  son,  and  grandson,  in  the  harbor. 
Barclay  and  Lawrence  visited  them  under  the  shade  of  the 
American  Consulate.  Shook  hands  and  conversed  with  the 
old  man  for  some  time,  and  admired  exceedingly  the  little 
boy,  who  is  the  image  of  Napoleon.  His  father,  the  Prince 
Charles  Bonaparte  de  Canino,  a  fine-looking  man. 

May  25. — The  Suttons,  Macaulays,  and  J.  Sterling  dined 
with  us.  Sterling  quoted  the  Italian  lady  who  was  asked  by 
Napoleon  whether  all  the  Italians  were  thieves  :  "  Non  tutti, 
ma  buona  parte  !" 

June  2. — We  had  a  nice  talk  with  Sterling  about  Frederick 
II.  of  Prussia,  whom  he  greatly  admires,  and  thinks  the  great- 
est man  that  was  ever  born  a  king.  In  the  controversy  with 
Voltaire,  Frederick  shines  in  every  respect.  Voltaire's  black- 
est spot  was  his  hatred  and  jealousy  of  Rousseau. 

June  6. — Uncle  and  Aunt  Charles  paid  the  Carlyles  a  de- 
lightful little  visit  when  in  town,  the  most  interesting  point 
of  which  was  that  Carlyle  ran  after  them  and  said,  "  Give  my 
love  to  your  dear  interesting  nephew  and  nieces  !"  which 
had  better  be  engraved  on  our  respective  tombstones.  I 
walked  tete  exaltee  the  rest  of  the  day  consequentially  !  On 
consulting  Sterling  on  the  singular  fact  of  Carlyle  remem- 
bering our  existence,  he  said,  "  Oh  !  he's  interested  about 
you  ;  he  likes  your  healthy  mode  of  Quakerism  ;  it's  the  sort 
of  thing  with  which  he  can  sympathize  more  than  any  other." 
Sterling  is  deep  in  Emerson's  "Essays,''  and  said,  "  It  would 
answer  your  purpose  well  to  devote  three  months  entirely  to 
the  study  of  this  one  little  volume ;  it  has  such  a  depth  and 
originality  of  thought  in  it  as  will  require  very  close  and  fixed 
attention  to  penetrate." 

June  8. — J.  Sterling  showed  me  Emerson's  book,  and  drew 
a  parallel  between  him  and  Carlyle ;  he  was  the  Plato,  and 
Carlyle  the  Tacitus.  Emerson  is  the  systematic  thinker ;  Car- 
lyle has  the  clearer  insight,  and  has  many  deeper  things  than 
Emerson. 

June  9. — Anna  Maria  and  I  paid  Dr.  Calvert  a  snug  little 
visit  by  special  invitation.  He  is  growing  sadly  weak,  and 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I4i 

every  day  more  sleepy.  "I  used  to  find  it  a  difficulty,"  he 
says,  "to  sleep  one  hour;  now  I  find  it  none  in  the  world 
to  sleep  twenty- four."  He  has  formed  an  intimacy  with  a 
cheery-hearted  old  woman,  Nancy  Weeks,  who  busies  herself 
with  the  eggs  of  Muscovy  ducks  ;  they  exchange  nosegays, 
and  he  sits  for  much  of  his  evenings  with  her  and  her  husband. 
He  has  stuck  a  portrait  of  papa  over  a  painting  to  which  he 
has  taken  a  great  antipathy,  and,  spite  of  the  incision  of  four 
pins,  his  landlady  quite  approves  of  the  arrangement.  He  is 
still  often  able  to  shoot  curious  little  birds,  which  he  brings 
to  Anna  Maria  to  draw  and  stuff. 

June  14. — On  leaving  the  bathing-machine,  Dr.  Calvert 
joined  us ;  he  is  extremely  weak  and  tottering,  ready  to  fall 
off  little  Z's  back  (so  he  has  named  a  recent  purchase  of 
his,  thinking  it  the  last  of  ponies  both  in  size  and  price, — 
five  pounds).  However,  he  brightened  up  and  was  quite 
cheerful. 

June  15. — Dr.  Calvert  joined  us  at  dinner,  and  we  all 
lounged  under  our  drooping  spruce,  with  Balaam  the  ape, 
which  I  had  borrowed  for  the  afternoon,  in  the  foreground, 
and  the  kid  near  by,  quite-  happy  in  our  companionship. 
The  Doctor  told  us  a  good  deal  about  the  peasantry  in  Ma- 
deira, and  how  much  they  are  generally  maligned  :  so  strong 
a  class  feeling  exists  in  that  island  that  they  seem  quite  cut 
off  from  sympathy ;  no  doctors  attend  them  when  ill,  and 
they  are  only  represented  as  a  most  degraded  set  of  people, 
shut  out  by  nature  from  communion  with  their  fellow-men. 
When  he  was  there  he  determined  to  find  them  out  for  him- 
self: some  fever  was  very  prevalent,  so  he  used  to  ride  out 
and  give  them  physic  and  money,  and  sit  with  them,  and 
enter  into  their  interests ;  they  soon  got  much  attached  to 
him,  and  when  he  was  going  away  he  received  all  sorts  of 
little  presents  from  the  poor  ill-used  creatures,  whose  loud 
laments  accompanied  him  to  the  ship :  his  gratis  practice 
.among  the  poor  had  soon  excited  the  ill  will  of  the  Portu- 
guese doctors,  who  actually  laid  an  information  against  him. 
"  Here's  a  fellow  who  has  no  right  to  practise  among  the 


142 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


Portuguese  physicking  the  poor  gratis;  all  confounded  quack- 
ery, with  some  ultimate  object,  of  course  :  he  must  be  stopped." 
When  he  heard  of  these  proceedings,  he  went  to  the  head 
physician,  and  told  him  that,  though  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  Portuguese  colleges,  he  had  his  English  M.D.  degree 
with  him;  that  if  they  interfered  with  his  practising  among 
the  poor,  he  should  take  his  revenge  and  practise  among  the 
rich.  This  was  a  final  check  for  them.  The  medical  art, 
as  well  as  every  other,  is  in  a  lamentably  low  state  there. 
Wherever  Spain  or  Portugal  has  influence,  there  pride  and 
indolence  form  barriers  to  all  improvement.  After  a  good 
deal  more  talk,  he  declared,  "Now  I'm  tired  of  ladies'  so- 
ciety;" but,  as  all  the  servants  were  gone  out  haymaking,  he 
had  to  submit  to  it  a  little  longer,  whilst  I  enacted  groom  and 
brought  out  his  little  pony ;  in  consequence  of  which,  when 
we  met  next  at  Trebah,  he  gave  me  a  delicious  piece  of  soap, 
which  he  thought  would  surely  be  useful  in  my  new  office. 
John  Sterling's  wisdom  and  Aunt  Charles's  wit  seemed  to  do 
him  good,  but  he  speaks  of  himself  as  physically  very  miserable. 
She  has  given  him  a  Neapolitan  pig,  which  is  an  amusement 
to  him ;  he  has  it  washed  and  shampooed  every  morning. 

June  1 6. — All  the  Trebahs  dined  with  us.  J.  Sterling  joined 
us  at  dessert  in  famous  spirits.  Barclay  spoke  of  women's 
veneration  for  power ;  he  amended  it  to  a  universal  venera- 
tion for  all  that  was  high  and  good. 

June  21. — Called  on  the  Sterlings.  Found  Dr.  Calvert 
squatting  in  a  corner  at  the  prospect  of  a  call  from  the  can- 
didate for  Falmouth  ;  J.  Sterling  sitting  bolt  upright,  anxious 
to  give  every  support  to  the  Liberal  candidate  ;  but,  alas ! 
we  had  not  our  expected  diversion,  for  a  card  was  the  only 
candidate  for  our  favor.  Sterling  talked  excellently  on  the 
corn  laws ;  he  would  amend  them  at  once  and  forever.  Sta- 
tistics are  mightily  in  his  favor  respecting  the  rise  and  fall  of 
wages  with  the  price  of  bread  ;  in  Ireland  and  Holland,  the 
result  is  precisely  the  converse  of  what  the  landholders  here  • 
predict.  Much  fun  about  Dr.  Calvert's  Neapolitan  pig,  which 
has  shown  no  marks  of  civilization  so  far.  Sterling  considers 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  143 

it  a  crying  error  of  the  day  to  make  one's  own  individuality 
one's  own  circle  of  consciousness,  one's  own  convictions  the 
standard  by  which  we  judge  those  of  others, — their  greater 
or  less  approximation  to  which  decides  their  value  in  our 
eyes. 

We  cannot,  without  a  mental  effort  too  vast  for  the  majority, 
look  at  Truth  as  a  congeries  of  Light,  of  which  no  human 
eye  can  bear  more  than  a  part.  Then  heaven  forbid  we 
should  condemn  or  hardly  judge  our  fellow-man,  to  whom 
the  same  point  of  Light  is  not  granted,  by  which  we  see :  he 
may  behold  a  larger  portion  or  an  intenser  light,  which  would 
utterly  dazzle  and  put  out  our  quite  human  eyes.  "Judge 
not,  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged  ;"  and,  above  all  things,  "  have 
fervent  charity  among  yourselves."  John  Sterling  is  not 
answerable  for  the  above  outbreak  of  morality. 

June  25. — A  pelting  afternoon  ;  nevertheless  it  brought  us 
the  Sterlings.  He  spoke  of  seeing  two  madmen  employing 
themselves  in  painting  in  some  Italian  asylum ;  it  was  the 
strictest  copying  work  :  he  does  not  remember  an  instance 
of  poetic  imagination  simply  inducing  madness ;  it  is  the 
presence  of  a  solitary,  all-absorbing  passion  or  emotion  that 
has  such  result. 

June  27. — Saw  the  Sterlings.  Looked  at  some  interesting 
portraits :  remarkable  contrast  between  S.  T.  Coleridge  and 
Schleiermacher, — such  restless  energy  and  penetrating  acute- 
ness  in  the  latter,  such  contemplative  indolence  and  supine- 
ness  in  the  other.  He  wishes  me  to  translate  some  of  Schlei- 
ermacher's  sermons,  which  I  think  I  shall  attempt. 

June  28. — To  breakfast  with  grandmother.  William  Ball 
very  eloquent  on  the  subject  of  Wordsworth  ;  they  never 
heard  him  praise  any  poetry  but  his  own,  except  a  piece  of  Jane 
Crewdson's  !  To  strangers  whom  he  is  not  likely  to  see  again 
he  converses  in  the  monologue  style  as  the  mood  is  upon  him, 
but  with  his  friends  he  is  very  willing,  and  indeed  desirous, 
of  hearing  them  state  their  own  opinions.  He  makes  no 
secret  of  his  view  that  poetry  stands  highest  among  the  arts, 
and  that  he  (William  Wordsworth)  is  at  the  head  of  it.  He 


144 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


expresses  such  opinions  in  the  most  naive  manner,  pleasant  to 
witness.  He  so  feels  the  importance  of  high  finish  as  not  to 
begrudge  a  fortnight  to  a  word,  so  he  succeed  at  last  in  get- 
ting a  competent  one. 

We  wandered  down  to  Dr.  Calvert's.  He  has  now  given 
up  all  thoughts  of  being  better,  and  only  considers  whether 
he  is  more  comfortable  one  day  than  another.  He  watches 
his  various  symptoms  with  perfect  calmness,  and  pronounces 
them  manifest  proofs  of  a  breaking  up  of  the  constitution. 
Conversation  turned  to  church  matters,  and  the  importance 
of  even  children  going  regularly,  were  it  only  to  cherish  those 
reverential  feelings  which  unite  one  with  all  in  worship. 
Long  after  he  himself  gave  up  going  to  church  on  account  of 
his  health,  he  continued  to  take  the  sacrament,  because  that 
is  a  ceremony  on  the  force  of  which  none  dares  to  dogmatize  ; 
the  wisest  and  best  are  divided  concerning  its  true  meaning, 
so  that  each  may  take  it  according  to  his  own  conscience. 

July  19. — An  interesting  evening  at  the  Sterlings'.  Time 
spent  in  looking  at  Raphael's  heads  from  his  frescos  in  the 
Vatican.  Certainly  the  wondrous  scope  of  vision  and  feeling 
displayed  in  the  infinite  variety  of  type  in  these  heads  raises 
Raphael  far  higher  as  a  philosophical  painter,  that  is,  possess- 
ing an  open  sense  and  a  deep  sympathy  with  man  in  all  his 
phases.  Sterling's  critique  was  most  interesting.  He  spoke 
of  them  being  far  inferior  in  grandeur  to  Michael  Angelo's, 
but  then  Michael  Angelo's  were  perpetual  transcripts  of  him- 
self. Now,  Raphael  was  able  to  look  quite  out  of  himself,  alike 
into  the  faces  of  his  fellows  and  their  opposites,  and  to  render 
them  truly  on  the  canvas.  He  called  Cruikshank  the  Raphael 
of  Cockneydom.  We  examined  a  portrait  of  him  which  he 
has  just  given  forth.  It  is  not  known  if  it  be  a  genuine  like- 
ness or  a  capital  joke,  but  it  is  quite  what  one  might  fancy 
him  to  be. 

Webster,  the  American,  after  being  three  months  in  town, 
was  asked  what  his  feeling  was  about  London.  "  The  same 
as  it  was  at  first,"  he  replied.  "  Amazement  !" 

July  27. — The  Doctor  has  brightened  up  a  little  since  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  145 

arrival  of  the  Stangers,*  and  to-day  crept  out  with  us  on  "  Z" 
to  Penjerrick  ;  he  gave  a  beautiful  little  glimpse  of  some  of 
the  analogies  between  Society  and  the  Individual.  Each  must, 
he  holds,  be  left  more  to  itself  and  its  God;  there  are  epochs 
and  diseases  and  difficulties  through  which  each  must  pass, 
but  for  these  there  is  a  remedy  deeper  than  restraining  and 
constraining  laws.  Plato  discovered  this  analogy,  and  ac- 
cordingly created  the  words  microcosm  and  macrocosm  ;  yet 
the  world  will  not  learn  that  Society  cannot  fall  to  pieces  if 
left  to  right  itself.  He  went  into  some  of  the  intricacies  of 
his  own  character, — his  want  of  self-esteem,  which,  though  it 
does  not  hinder  him  from  objecting  to  the  theories  of  all 
others,  prevents  his  confidence  in  his  own,  unless  built  up  on 
indisputable,  reasonable,  manifest  truth.  Rumball,  the  phre- 
nologist, has  been  examining  his  head,  and  he  is  quite  willing 
that  his  character  of  him  should  be  seen,  because  he  thinks  it 
an  instructive  one,  just  as  he  would  have  his  body  examined 
after  death  for  the  benefit  of  medical  science. 

Plymouth,  July  30. — Attended  the  British  Association  Meet- 
ing here.  Sir  Henry  de  la  Beche  was  President  of  the  Geo- 
logical Section,  which  was  by  far  the  most  popular,  and  cer- 
tainly very  interesting.  He  was  a  most  spirited  president. 
This  evening,  as  we  were  taking  tea  at  Colonel  Mudge's,  he 
wandered  in,  and  was  forcibly  reminded  of  old  times  in  see- 
ing us  all.  On  education  in  general,  and  popular  education 
in  particular,  he  spoke  in  a  tone  and  dialect  not  foreign  to 
Carlyle.  "Say  honestly,  education  they  want  and  education 
they  shall  have,  and  the  thing  is  done,  but  let  it  be  said  hon- 
estly or  not  at  all."  He  talked  with  strong  sympathy  of 
Carlyle's  "  Chartism,"  and  remarked  concerning  the  fallacies 
discoverable  therein,  "  Why,  no  perfect  book,  any  more  than 
a  perfect  character,  can  exist  whilst  the  world  and  we  are 
human." 

August  3. — Dined  at  the  W.  S.  Harris's,  and  met  a  very 


*  Dr.  Calvert's  only  sister  and  her  husband,  who  now  came  to  nurse  him  in 
what  proved  his  fatal  illness. 

G  I3 


I46  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

pleasant  party.  My  lot  at  dinner  was  cast  with  Henry  de  la 
Beche.  He  talked  of  the  all-importance  of  an  honest  belief. 
I  see  he  is  very  careful  not  to  give  his  opinion  until  he  has  really 
studied  the  subject,  he  so  dreads  and  deprecates  untrue  state- 
ments both  of  opinion  and  fact.  He  was  complimented  on 
the  way  in  which  he  had  performed  his  duties  as  chairman, 
and  confidentially  told  me  that  the  secret  of  pleasing  in  that 
department  was  to  bring  others  forward  and  keep  yourself  in 
the  background. 

Falmouth,  August  7. — Professor  Lloyd*  and  his  wife  ap- 
peared after  breakfast ;  we  took  shipping  and  went  to  Trelis- 
sick.  Talked  about  Quetelet :  he  is  a  sort  of  universal  genius, 
his  present  object  the  investigation  of  cycles.  Babbage  has 
been  attempting  to  form  statistics  of  suicides,  but  remarked, 
"  We  must  have  many  more  examples  before  we  can  get  at 
an  accurate  result."  When  the  Franklins  and  Sabines  were 
excursing  in  Ireland,  they  went  through  some  difficult  pass. 
Professor  Lloyd  was  with  them,  and  vastly  amused  at  Lady 
Franklin  again  and  again  saying,  "John,  you  had  better  go 
back,  you  are  certainly  giddy."  At  last,  poor  woman,  she 
had  to  change  her  feint,  and  could  proceed  no  farther.  Sir 
John  found  it  advisable  to  carry  her  back,  and  asked  Colonel 
Sabine  to  assist  him.  The  colonel  thought  it  nervous  work, 
and  hesitated,  until  encouraged  in  a  grave  matter-of-fact  way 
by  the  excellent  husband:  "Don't  be  afraid,  Sabine ;  she 
never  kicks  when  she's  faint !" 

August  8. — Took  a  calm  little  walk  with  Professor  Lloyd, 
in  which  he  beautifully  analyzed  Whewell's  character,  ser- 
mons, and  scientific  standing.  To  each  the  objections  are 
rather  negative  than  positive,  but  nevertheless  they  are  objec- 
tions. Charming  evening  over  poetry,  ghosts,  etc.  He  rec- 

*  Lloyd  (Rev.  Humphrey),  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  born  in  Dublin  1800.  He 
was  especially  devoted  to  the  sciences  of  Light  and  Magnetism,  and  in  1838  the 
newly-founded  Magnetical  Observatory  in  Dublin  was  placed  under  his  direc- 
tion. He  was  made  Provost  of  Trinity  College  in  1867,  and  died  in  1881.  He 
wrote  many  valuable  works  on  the  subjects  in  which  he  took  so  especial  an 
interest. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  J47 

ommends  Taylor's  "  Physical  Theory  of  another  Life."  His 
own  belief  in  ghosts  extends  thus  far;  at  the  moment  at  which 
the  soul  is  separated  from  the  body,  he  thinks  the  spirit  may 
•range  for  any  definite  purpose,  our  comprehension  of  which 
is  by  no  means  necessary  for  its  reality. 

August  10. — Went  to  Grove  Hill,  where  we  found  Ritter,  a 
most  remarkable  object,  with  a  most  Goethean  countenance 
and  grand  forehead.  He  was  much  interested  in  hearing 
Sterling  talk  on  Germany  and  the  Germans.  His  own  part  in 
the  dialogue  was  very  "  so-so."  Speaking  of  Bettina's  mode 
of  bringing  up  her  children,  he  said,  "  She  does  no  ting  to 
dem,  but  let  dem  go,  and  yet  dey  all  turn  out  well."  Pro- 
fessor Owen  was  of  our  party.  He  said,  with  reference  to  an 
analogy  he  spoke  of  last  night,  "  It  is  only  the  first  step  to  a 
boundless  field  of  analogies  ;  there  are  many  I  have  discov- 
ered of  a  most  profound  nature,  of  which  that  is  merely  a 
hint."  He  is  a  very  interesting  person,  his  face  full  of  ener- 
getic thought  and  quiet  strength.  His  eye  has  in  it  a  fixed- 
ness of  purpose,  and  enthusiasm  for  that  purpose,  seldom 
surpassed. 

August  12. — Breakfast  made  most  joyous  by  Colonel  Sabine* 
announcing  that  he  had  got  glorious  news  for  us,  which  he 
set  us  to  guess.  His  wife  looked  keenly  at  him,  and  asked, 
"It  is  about  Captain  Ross  ?"  Such  is  the  sympathy  between 
these  married  magnetists ;  for  in  very  truth  it  was  about  Cap- 
tain Ross, — that  he  had  reached  78°  South  lat.,  being  11° 
farther  than  any  one  before  him.  He  had  discovered  snow- 
capped mountains.  Twenty-two  years  since  (in  1818),  Col- 
onel Sabine  and  he  had  stood  upon  the  North  Pole  ice,  and 
the  former  said,  "Well,  Ross,  when  you  become  a  post-cap- 
tain and  a  great  man,  you  must  go  through  the  same  work  at 
the  South  Pole."  Colonel  Sabine's  excitement  is  delightful, 

*  Sabine  (General  Sir  Edward),  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  born  1788.  Took  a  part  in 
the  explorations  in  the  Northern  Seas  with  Ross  and  Parry  in  1818.  Was 
secretary  to'  the  Royal  Society  from  1827  to  1830,  and  to  him  we  owe  the  estab- 
lishment of  magnetic  observatories.  He  succeeded  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  as 
President  of  the  Royal  Society  in  1861. 


,48  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

and  the  spirit  of  reverent  thankfulness  with  which  he  receives 
the  tidings  truly  instructive.  They  are  so  charmed  at  the 
coincidence  of  the  news  arriving  here,  when  Lloyd,  Sabine, 
and  Fox  are  assembled  together. 

To  Hunt's  lecture  in  the  evening,  on  "  The  Influence  of 
Poetry  and  Painting  on  Education."  John  Sterling  in  the 
chair,  where  he  sat  with  tolerable  composure  till  the  conclu- 
sion. He  then  thanked  our  lecturer  for  the  pains  he  had 
taken  to  instruct  us,  and  added  a  few  impressive  words: 
"  Guard  against  self-deception  of  every  species.  True  poetry 
is  not  the  plaything  of  an  idle  fancy,  nor  the  pursuit  of  a 
vacant  moment,  but  the  result  of  concentrated  energy  and  the 
offspring  of  untiring  perseverance." 

August  1 8. — Breakfasted  at  the  Joseph  Games'  and  met 
Conybeare,  who  was  very  interesting  about  his  theological 
lectures  and  some  of  their  effects.  He  once  attended  a 
Unitarian  chapel,  and  was  much  astonished  at  their  prayer  at 
the  end ;  it  was  no  petition,  but  a  sort  of  summary  of  the  per- 
fections of  the  Deity.  He  went  with  Dr.  Pritchard  to  one  of 
J.  J.  Gurney's  meetings,  and  listened  to  a  kind  of  apologetic 
discourse  for  the  peculiarities  of  our  Body.  He  was  especially 
tickled  at  his  mention  of  women's  preaching.  "  Shall  we 
silence  our  women  ?  We  cannot  do  it !  We  dare  not  do  it !" 
He  takes  a  very  bright  impression  of  the  present  race  of  scien- 
tific men,  so  much  religious  feeling  among  them.  Told  us  of 
Sedgwick's  listening  to  a  party  of  ladies  talking  phrenology. 
He  joined  in  with,  "  Do  you  know  I  have  been  much  inter- 
ested in  watching  X lecturing  ?  He  begins  with  rather  a 

barrenness  of  ideas,  but  as  he  proceeds  his  views  enlarge  and 
spread  themselves,  till  at  last  his  wig  becomes  quite  uncom- 
fortable." 

August  30. — John  Sterling  is  extremely  pleased  with  his  visit 
to  Carclew,  and  the  society  there  of  two  men  of  European 
celebrity.  He  characterizes  Lloyd  as  a  highly  cultivated  and 
naturally  refined  abstract  thinker,  living  and  dreaming  in  his 
abstractions,  feeling  "the  around  him"  as  nothing  and  "the 
beyond  him"  everything;  his  course,  therefore,  very  naturally 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I49 

takes  the  direction  of  pure  mathematics.  Owen,  with  his 
strong  perceptions,  vigorous  energy,  and  active  will,  chooses 
organic  matter  for  his  investigations,  and  dwells  rather  in 
what  is  and  what  has  been,  than  in  what  may  be.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  observe  how  these  antithetical  characters  have  alike 
arrived  at  the  fact  of  the  extreme  importance  of  analogies. 

A  large  party  met  on  Meudon  beach  to  draw  a  seine  for 
Professor  Owen,  the  result  of  which  was  one  cuttle-fish,  which 
he  bore  back  in  triumph  on  his  stick.  We  all  lounged  on  the 
beach  most  peacefully,  John  Sterling  reading  some  of  Tenny- 
son to  us,  which  displays  a  poetical  fancy  and  intense  sym- 
pathy with  dreamy  romance,  and  withal  a  pure  pathos,  drawn 
direct  from  the  heart  of  Nature. 

Owen  was  very  delightful ;  he  is  such  a  natural  creature, 
never  affecting  the  stilted  "  philosophe,"  and  never  ashamed 
of  the  science  which  he  so  ardently  loves.  He  is  passionately 
fond  of  scenery ;  indeed,  all  that  the  Infinite  Mind  has  im- 
pressed on  matter  has  a  charm  and  a  voice  for  him.  A  truly 
catholic  soul !  He  is  delighted  with  the  Cornish  character  of 
independence,  kind-heartedness,  intelligence,  and  energy. 

Interesting  ride  home  ;  talked  much  of  Sterling :  the  strug- 
gle he  had  in  his  voyage  from  the  West  Indies  was  an  eman- 
cipation from  the  authority  of  man,  and  a  conviction  that 
thenceforth  he  must  live  according  to  conscience.  Grandly 
as  that  divine  fiat  stands  forth,  "Let  there  be  light,"  by 
which  a  material  world  was  revealed,  how  infinitely  more  sub- 
lime is  the  act  of  Deity  when  "Let  there  be  light"  is  again 
spoken,  and  a  human  soul  beholds  its  Maker ! 

September  i. — Went"  to  the  Sterlings',  where  he  talked  of 
poetry.  Milton  and  Shakespeare,  Schiller  and  Goethe,  are 
illustrious  antithetical  examples  of  lyric  and  dramatic  poets. 
John  Milton  was  legible  throughout  all  his  writings,  and 
Schiller  painted  himself  in  all  his  characters.  The  other  two 
are  world-wide,  addressing  the  sympathies  of  the  race.  This 
higher  tone  of  feeling,  and  expression  of  feeling,  not  to  be 
attained  by  any  cultivation,  affectation,  or  sudden  leap,  but  by 
a  conscientious  and  loving  sympathy  with  all.  Wilson,  the 

'3* 


je0  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

landscape-painter,  when  he  first  looked  on  Tivoli,  exclaimed, 
"  Well-done  water — by  God  !" 

September  2. — With  Sterling,  who  professes  himself  quite 
happy  with  society,  philosophy,  scenery,  and  Cornish  cream. 
He  delights  in  Owen,  with  all  his  enthusiasm  for  fossil  r£p- 
tiles ;  and  then  he  so  cordially  acknowledges  Shakespeare  as 
one  of  the  hugest  among  organized  fossils  !  Dora  Lloyd 
asked  Sterling  what  Kant  thought.  "  He  thought  fifteen 
octavo  volumes,"  was  the  reply. 

September  4. — Mrs.  Owen  gave  us  many  sketches  of  her 
own  life  and  experiences.  She  has  been  a  great  deal  with  the 
Cuvier  family,  and  considers  Cuvier  an  infinitely  great  man, — 
so  great,  indeed,  that  you  could  never  approach  him  without 
feeling  your  own  inferiority.  Her  husband  strongly  recom- 
mends Cuvier's  "  Eloges"  as  very  beautiful  pieces  of  biogra- 
phy. He  thinks  him  the  greatest  man  since  Aristotle,  not  to 
be  repeated  for  two  thousand  years.  He  has  great  faith  in 
cycles  applied  to  great  men  :  such  regular  intervals  occurred 
between  the  epic  poets.  Mrs.  Owen  told  us  about  her  educa- 
tion, which  was  very  much  left  to  herself.  She  said,  "I  de- 
termined to  get  to  myself  as  much  knowledge  as  possible,  so 
I  studied  languages, — even  Russian, — music,  drawing,  and 
comparative  anatomy.  My  father  being  Curator  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Surgeons,  I  had  great  facilities  for  this  latter  branch. 
I  determined  I  would  never  love  any  but  a  very  superior  man, 
and  see  how  fortunate  I  have  been."  She  is  a  very  perfect 
little  Fact  in  the  great  history  of  the  world. 

September  5. — Professor  Owen  talked  about  phrenology, 
which  he  considers  the  most  remarkable  chimera  which  has 
taken  possession  of  rational  heads  for  a  long  time ;  his 
strongest  argument  was  that  animals  have  no  room  for  what 
are  called  the  animal  organs,  therefore  the  intellectual  ought 
to  be  placed  at  the  back  of  the  head.  Talked  enthusiastically 
of  Whewell  and  his  "  Philosophy  of  the  Inductive  Sciences," 
a  book  which  he  thinks  will  live  by  the  side  of  Bacon's  "  No- 
vum  Organum."  He  considers  him  as  deep  as  he  is  universal. 
A  rare  eulogy.  He  is  delighting  in  Carlyle's  "French  Revo- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  151 

lution."  Carlyle  reminds  him  of  Milton  in  his  prose  works, 
whence  he  thinks  he  derived  much  of  the  peculiarity  of  his 
style.  Talking  of  Carlyle's  message  of  sympathy  with  the 
entire  race,  Owen  dissents,  from  adopting  Johnson's  princi- 
ple, "I  like  a  good  hater."  We  battled  this,  and  the  result 
did  not  weaken  my  faith  in  the  premises.  In  the  evening 
Owen  gave  us  the  individual  adventures  of  different  speci- 
mens of  heads  and  a  foot  of  the  dodo  now  existing  in  this 
country,  the  history  of  the  Oxford  one  traceable  from  Eliza- 
beth's time.  In  Ashmole's  time  it  was  a  whole  bird,  but  his 
executors,  finding  it  dusty,  broke  off  the  head  and  burnt  the 
rest,  and  successive  naturalists  have  chanted  a  loud  miserere. 
He  gave  a  lecture  on  going  to  bed  early  :  the  two  hours  before 
midnight  the  most  important  for  health. 

September  6. — On  the  Pen  nance  Rocks  in  a  dole e  far  niente 
state;  the  Professor  perfectly  happy.  He  gave  me  lesson  No. 
i  on  the  primary  divisions  in  natural  history.  John  Sterling 
joined  us  there,  and  we  had  some  talk  over  Wordsworth, 
Carlyle,  and  collateral  subjects.  Lady  Holland  has  estab- 
lished a  sort  of  tyranny  over  matters  of  literature  and  criti- 
cism. Henry  Taylor  dining  one  day  at  Holland  House, 
Lady  Holland  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  now.  "I  am 
writing  a  review  of  Wordsworth  for  the  'Quarterly.'' 
"What!"  exclaimed  her  ladyship,  "absolutely  busied  about 
the  man  who  writes  of  caps  and  pinafores  and  that  sort  of 
thing?"  Taylor  replied,  in  the  gravest,  quietest  way,  "That 
is  a  mode  of  criticising  Wordsworth  which  has  been  obsolete 
for  the  last  ten  years."  And  Taylor  has  not  since  been  asked 
to  Holland  House. 

Sterling  attributes  the  obscurity  often  met  with  in  Words- 
worth to  his  unavailing  attempt  to  reconcile  philosophical 
insight  with  those  forms  of  opinion,  religious  and  political, 
in  which  he  had  been  educated,  and  which  the  majority 
around  him  held.  Ouen  thinks  that  Coleridge  had  a  bad 
effect  on  the  young  literary  men  about  him,  in  teaching  them 
to  speak,  instead  of  write,  their  thoughts.  His  delight  in 
Carlyle  is  refreshing  to  witness. 


152 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


The  Owens  and  Sterlings  joined  us  this  evening  to  listen 
to  a  very  beautiful  lecture  on  light  which  Professor  Lloyd  was 
so  good  as  to  give  us.  He  felt  great  difficulty  in  his  task, 
being  shut  out  from  mathematics  for  this  evening,  but  told  us 
wonderful  facts  and  exhibited  beautiful  phenomena,  and  gave 
an  interesting  sketch  of  the  progressive  views  of  light  which 
have  been  held  by  our  greatest  men.  Newton  considered  it 
to  consist  of  an  infinite  number  of  molecules  flung  in  all  di- 
rections from  the  bright  body,  and  reflected  or  refracted  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  the  substance  with  which  they  came 
in  contact.  Huygens,  on  the  other  hand,  discovered  the  two- 
sidedness  of  light-beams,  and  hence  got  at  the  true  view  of 
light  and  its  wave-like  mode  of  transmission.  All  experiment 
and  analogy  confirmed  this  view, — the  coincidence  or  inter- 
ference of  the  waves  of  light  producing  an  intense  light  or 
darkness  analogous  to  the  nodal  points  in  sound ;  the  inter- 
ference of  rings  in  water  into  which  two  stones  have  been 
thrown  ;  the  points  of  intense  heat,  and  cold  produced  by 
fire;  and,  in  fact,  all  the  phenomena  attendant  on  vibration. 
With  reference  to  the  vastness  of  his  subject,  he  quoted  some 
one  who  speaks  of  the  pendulum  of  eternity  which  beats 
epochs  as  ours  do  seconds.  Sterling  was  greatly  struck  with 
the  magnificence  of  the  conception  that  if  the  fixed  stars  were 
annihilated  we  should  not  be  conscious  of  it  for  many  years, 
spite  of  thejapidity  with  which  light  travels. 

Professor  Owen  was  busy  taking  notes ;  he  is  so  glad  to 
have  heard  this  lecture,  for  whenever  he  got  at  strange  phe- 
nomena, such  as  mother-of-pearl  appearances,  and  consulted 
Whewell,  he  was  briefly  assured  that  it  arose  from  the  polari- 
zation of  light,  which  seemed  a  clear  and  conclusive  answer 
to  every  difficulty,  whereas  our  dear  lecturer  could  only 
view  it  as  a  monstrous  bugbear  which  he  could  not  get 
hold  of. 

September  7. — The  Owens  started  with  us,  and  we  had  an 
extremely  pleasant  drive  to  Heligan.  He  told  us  some  capi- 
tal stories  concerning  Irish  landlords  and  their  clever  methods 
of  helping  their  tenants;  also  an  amusing  story  of  Lord 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  I53 

Enniskillen,  who  on  his  father's  death  found  a  piece  of  waste 
land  the  subject  of  desperate  contention  between  him  and  an 
old  lady.  So  he  called  on  her,  and  found  her  rather  stiff  and 
shy,  as  was  natural.  At  last  conversation  got  to  the  Chancery 
suit  in  which  they  were  embarking.  Lord  Enniskillen  took 
out  a  sovereign,  and,  remarking,  "  Well,  I  think  this  is  a  better 
way  of  settling  the  business,"  tossed  it  up,  crying,  "  Heads 
or  tails?"  "Tails!"  cried  the  old  lady,  falling  involun- 
tarily into  the  humor;  and  tails  it  was,  and  the  land  was 
hers !  A  few  days  after,  Lord  Enniskillen  had  to  preside  at 
a  Dispensary  meeting,  when  a  very  handsome  sum  was  sent 
in  by  this  old  lady,  who  had  had  the  land  appraised,  and, 
feeling  some  misgivings,  had  sent  the  exact  amount  to  this 
charity. 

September  9. — Sterling  was  asking  this  morning  what  out- 
ward impulse  A.  B.  had  had  to  her  deep  thoughtfulness.  I 
could  think  of  none,  and  queried  if  any  were  necessary. 
"No,"  he  said  ;  "George  Fox  had  his  Bible  to  go  to,  and 
A.  B.  also  has  had  the  Bible,  and  power  to  draw  deeply  from 
so  pure  a  well."  He  talked  very  impressively  about  work  and 
what  we  all  had  to  do,  and  the  wasting  confusion  which  lasted 
until  we  found  out  what  our  work  was.  With  the  majority, 
he  thinks  philosophy  rather  likely  to  confuse  than  clear  the 
mind  :  spoke  of  some  primary  truths,  on  which  the  most 
cloudy  heads  may  see  bright  sunshine ;  that  man  is  a  religious 
animal,  and  must  have  a  Higher  than  himself  to  reverence  ; 
that,  spite  of  all  cants,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  genuine  love 
of  Truth.  These  are  glorious  and  eternal  facts  in  the  life  of 
the  mind. 

September  13. — Dr.  Calvert  so  much  better  as  to  be  again 
in  his  garden.  His  state  lately  has  been  distressing  from  ex- 
treme languor,  weakness,  and  depression.  If  he  ever  gave 
way  to  such  expressions  as  "I  wish  I  were  dead,"  he  always 
suffered  afterwards  most  bitterly  from  self-reproach. 

September  14. — John  Sterling  said  this  morning  that  he 
supposed  Schiller  was  the  only  person  who  could  bear  to  have 
all  his  words  noted  down.  Of  him,  Goethe  said  to  a  friend 


154  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIEXDS. 

of  Sterling's,  "  I  have  never  heard  from  him  an  insignificant 
word."  That  was  high  praise. 

September  20. — Evening  at  Grove  Hill ;  met  John  Sterling. 
Looked  over  multitudes  of  engravings  in  search  of  a  head  of 
Simon  ides,  because  Sterling  fondly  hoped  to  find  some  like- 
ness between  it  and  Goethe.  Talked  of  Dante  :  he  calls  his 
poem  not  an  epic  but  a  lyric,  the  head  of  the  lyrics,  on  account 
of  its  unhesitating  subjectivity  ;  the  poet  not  only  speaks  his 
own  thoughts  but  is  his  own  hero.  Looking  at  a  little  ala- 
baster Samuel  praying,  he  quoted  Carlyle's  criticism,  "that 
it  was  dilettante  prayer  !"  Coleridge  called  a  Gothic  cathe- 
dral "petrified  religion,"  a  striking  term.  Spoke  of  the  ex- 
treme reverence  which  the  Germans  entertain  for  the  antique. 
I  objected  that  they  showed  little  mercy  or  veneration  for  the 
opinions  and  creeds  of  their  ancestors.  "No,"  he  said; 
"  they  strive  to  remove  every  crust  and  encumbrance,  that 
the  form  may  be  perfectly  preserved  and  restored." 

September  21. — John  Sterling  talking  of  Emerson.  He 
thinks  him  a  one-sided  man,  but  that  it  is  well  worth  while  to 
look  thoroughly  into  his  theory  of  the  world  and  its  govern- 
ment. Talked  characteristically  of  Spinoza,  a  Dutch  Jew : 
I  had  quite  fancied  him  an  Italian ;  also  of  the  Jewish  and 
philosophical  views  of  our  dependence  on  a  Higher  Power, 
which  he  thinks  may  coexist  in  the  same  person  ;  at  least  he 
says  he  feels  it  so  himself,  and  that  it  is  viewing  God  as  an 
intellectual  as  well  as  a  moral  being. 

September  23. — John  Sterling  joined  us.  Spoke  of  the  dif- 
ferent ages  of  the  world :  difficult  to  be  compared  or  dogma- 
tized on  as  relatively  good.  One  age  is  concentrative,  and  its 
great  men  are  Titans ;  another  diffusive,  and  all  men  nearly 
alike.  No  man  ever  grew  to  his  spiritual  height  without  sym- 
pathy, nor  can  he  ever.  This  is  a  most  beautiful  and  deep 
and  universal  fact  of  our  nature.  We  are  intended  to  live  in 
love  one  with  another,  and  any  contradiction  of  this  funda- 
mental law  entails  just  so  much  halfness  and  futility  and  nar- 
rowness of  insight.  A  Plato  never  rose  among  barbarians. 
He  thinks  Barclay  amazingly  improved  in  his  poetry,  and  his 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  155 

admiration  is  great  for  one  line, — "  A  plant  that  seeks  the  sun, 
yet  grasps  the  soil," — as  being  perfectly  felicitous,  simplicity 
and  depth  united. 

Uncle  Joshua  remarked  that  the  majority  of  fashionable 
women  keep  themselves  in  tolerable  health  by  talking  :  they 
would  die  otherwise  for  want  of  exercise. 

September  30. — Saw  Dr.  Calvert  again  to-day,  who  was 
quite  his  old  self,  talking  on  his  old  subjects  in  his  old  way. 
He  reads  little  now  but  Chinese  stories,  which  he  thinks  suit 
him  well.  He  defined  Deism  in  its  pure  form  as  the  religion 
of  Christ  towards  God.  Harriet  Martineau's  works' are  pure 
Deism  ;  you  would  look  for  Christianity  from  her  pen,  but  as 
far  as  they  go  they  are  admirable. 

October  5. — Colonel  Sabine  forwarded  Captain  Ross's  Jour- 
nal to  papa,  which  is  very  interesting, — full  of  the  spirit  of 
British  enterprise,  and  enthusiasm  for  his  object,  and  intoler- 
ance towards  all  other  nations  which  attempt  discovery,  as 
though  it  were  the  indisputable  prerogative  of  England. 

Attended  Hunt's  lecture  on  Chemistry  ;  very  pretty,  pop- 
ular, explosive,  and  luminous. 

October  16. — Interesting  visit  to  John  Sterling,  who  was 
not  well.  He  was  enjoying  "  Wilhelm  Meister,"  which  he 
considers  worth  any  ten  contemporary  works.  He  contrasts 
it  with  Novalis,  who  was  young,  untutored,  and  passionate, 
and  transcribed  his  crude  self  with  his  ardent  aspirations  and 
unequal  attainings.  "  Wilhelm  Meister"  he  would  rather 
•characterize  as  the  gospel  of  experience.  It  abounds  with 
indecorums,  but  contains  no  immoralities ;  he  ventures  not  to 
recommend  it  to  young  ladies,  but  would  wish  all  young  men 
to  study  it  earnestly.  Goethe  had,  like  the  Greeks,  a  most 
delicate  ear  for  quantity  ;  number  is  generally  much  more 
attended  to  in  England  than  quantity. 

October  26. — Paid  Dr.  Calvert  and  his  sister  a  charming 
visit.  The  Doctor  quite  himself,  advocating  passive  rather 
than  active  heroism,  yet  making  vast  allowances  for  his  friend's 
physical  mistakes  about  this,  "  for  it  must  be  tremendously 
hard  for  him  who  deems  himself  a  teacher  to  sit  down  in  ac- 


156 


MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


quiescing  patience  in  a  do-nothing  state."  What  Dr.  Calvert 
lays  stress  on  is  the  general  tone  of  mind  to  be. prescribed, 
not  the  particular  book  or  engagement  which  will  do  good  or 
harm  :  of  that  every  individual  must  judge  by  his  own  feelings 
and  perceptions,  but  a  quiet  satisfied  sense  of  being  in  your 
right  place  and  doing  your  own  duty  is  the  best  physical  state 
imaginable.  The  young  aspirants  after  eminence  and  fame 
fancy  themselves  made  up  of  a  pure  divine  intellect  and  a 
lower  animal  nature,  and  for  the  higher  to  make  any  conces- 
sions to  the  lower  is,  they  think,  an  intolerable  sin  ;  whereas 
in  reality  all  parts  of  our  nature  have  been  alike  created  by 
Divine  Wisdom,  who  has  himself  subjected  them  to  certain 
laws  of  co-operation,  any  infringement  of  which  brings  cer- 
tain punishment  with  it.  In  carrying  out  the  Divine  will, 
in  whatever  direction  it  may  be,  our  higher  nature  or  intel- 
lectual and  moral  faculties  can  surely  suffer  no  loss. 

November  3. — John  Sterling  read  us  extracts  from  a  letter 
from  Carlyle  received  to-day.  Much  was  in  reference  to  a 
remark  of  Sterling's  whether  any  one  had  ever  actually  loved 
Goethe.  Carlyle  thinks  that  Schiller  did,  though  with  a  full 
appreciation  of  the  distance  which  separated  them  ;  but  he 
adds,  "  However  we  may  admire  the  heavens'  lightning,  we 
are  not  apt  to  love  it  in  the  way  of  caressing."  Carlyle 
speaks  of  himself  as  busy,  but  does  not  say  what  about ;  con- 
gratulates Sterling  on  being  willing  to  let  some  of  his  work 
lie  quiet  and  unnoticed,  during  which  time  he  supposes  it  un- 
dergoes a  process  of  parting  with  its  carbon  and  all  extraneous 
substances,  that  it  may  be  brought  out  pure  at  last.  Speaks 
of  a  loving  sympathy  with  man  as  the  soft  summer  heat  which 
will  make  this  wide  seed-field  flourish. 

November  6. — This  morning  I  began  to  disbelieve  in  acci- 
dents ;  does  not  everything,  both  in  mind  and  matter,  act 
definitely,  every  event  have  a  necessary  cause  ?  In  nature, 
events  are  called  accidental  which  are  the  direct  consequences 
of  some  pre-established  law  of  being,  known  or  unknown  ;  in 
mind,  the  result  of  a  conflux  of  causes,  equally  definite  and 
certain,  though  often  mysterious  and  unfathomed.  Thus,  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  157 

carriage  is  overturned  by  some  infringement  of  the  laws  of 
matter  generally  discoverable  enough.  A  man  is  led  to  adopt 
a  particular  line  of  conduct  consequent  on  his  peculiar  con- 
stitution, modified  by  his  education,  association,  line  of 
thought,  and  outward  surrounding  circumstances.  Suppose 
he  were  to  get  drunk  and  neglect  his  family.  This  proves  his 
animal  instincts  strong,  and  his  social  ones  weak,  a  deficient 
moral  sense  and  an  abused  understanding,  the  intensity  of  all 
heightened  by  bad  association.  Suppose  he  at  length  recog- 
nizes his  mistaken  mode  of  life.  Self-love,  respect  for  the 
good  opinion  of  his  fellows,  brightening  intellectual  vigor,  or 
the  power  of  religion,  may  any  of  them  be  a  sufficient  motive 
to  induce  him  to  change  his  mode  of  life ;  and  it  is  an  irre- 
fragable law  of  mind,  that  moral  efforts  become  definitely 
easier  by  repetition.  That  which  first  discovered  to  him  his 
altogether  false  position  did  so  because  exactly  addressed  to 
his  perceptions  and  consciousness  ;  whilst  another  might  have 
passed  it  by,  and  been  roused  by  quite  a  different  cause.  In 
all  cases  the  cause  is  sufficient  to  produce  the  effect.  This 
consideration  might  make  us  more  lenient  in  judging  others, 
that  motives  or  reasons  which  present  themselves  to  us  as  irre- 
sistible are  not  recognized  in  precisely  the  same  manner  by 
any  other  existing  individual,  whilst  we  might  pass  by,  as 
foolish  or  insufficient,  arguments  which  our  heavenly  Father 
has  disposed  his  weak  and  erring  prodigal  to  accept  as  un- 
answerable, and  of  power  to  regulate  the  remainder  of  his  ex- 
istence. Thus,  in  Luther  the  monstrous  imposition  of  indul- 
gences was  just  of  sufficient  weight  to  overbalance  his  devotion 
to  Rome.  The  passion  into  which  this  discovery  kindled 
him,  and  the  mode  he  took  to  express  it,  just  availed  to  stir 
up  the  particular  sort  of  opposition  by  which  his  antagonists 
tried  to  suppress  him  and  his  doctrines.  This  reacted  on 
him,  and  he  learned  self-confidence,  and  confidence  in  Him 
who  is  the  Truth,  and  continued  his  opposition  with  equal 
vigor  and  more  system.  His  intrepidity  drew  to  his  cause 
those  whose  mental  constitution  could  best  appreciate  that 
part  of  his  activity  :  his  logical  deductions  attracted  others  : 


'58 


MEMORIES   OF   OLD   FRIENDS. 


his  honest  devotion  to  truth  had  its  disciples  :  his  assertion  of 
freedom  of  conscience  was  embraced  by  others  again  :  and 
every  fresh  adherent  reacted  on  Luther  in  some  often  unap- 
preciable  manner,  either  cheering  him  on  to  vigorous  action, 
or  modifying  his  innovating  spirit:  every  smallest  fact  in  his 
history  had  a  definite  result,  and  necessitated  the  Reformation 
in  the  form  we  see  it. 

November  10. — Took  an  early  dinner  with  the  Sterlings,  to 
draw  and  talk  in  peace.  One  of  the  last  Yankeeisms  has 
greatly  amused  him,  that  a  child  in  Kentucky  was  so  exceed- 
ingly small  as  to  be  obliged  to  stand  upon  a  footstool  to  kick 
the  kitten. 

Talked  strikingly  of  Pym,  Cromwell,  Hampden,  and  the 
Long  Parliament ;  then  of  his  beloved  Germans.  Leibnitz 
he  thinks  the  most  universal  man  since  Aristotle.  Talked  on 
the  mighty  Faith  required  when  a  new  Truth  is  received  and 
recognized  as  the  God's-Truth;  to  leave  all  its  consequences 
in  his  hands,  the  consequences  both  practical  and  speculative. 

November  27. — An  interesting  visit  to  Sterling:  he  still 
keeps  the  house,  but  his  chest  is  better  even  than  in  the  sum- 
mer. Talked  of  the  utter  inability  of  men  of  a  certain  age 
and  literary  standing  to  take  in  Carlyle  and  grant  that  he  does 
anything  but  rave.  He  thinks  it  a  very  favorable  symptom 
of  the  present  state  of  English  thought,  that  the  Radicals  are 
giving  their  minds  to  German  literature  ;  it  either  proves  that 
a  higher,  more  thoughtful  class  of  men  have  embraced  Radi- 
calism, or  else  that  the  former  set  found  something  which 
Benthamism  and  Political  Economy  could  not  supply.  Politi- 
cal parties  now,  though  retaining  the  same  names,  differ 
widely  from  those  of  ten  or  twenty  years  since.  Indeed,  all 
England  is  changed  and  changing. 

November  30. — Dr.  Calvert  is  increasingly  ill,  generally 
extremely  depressed,  though  at  times  cheerful,  and  always 
striving  after  submission.  "  Beg  Mr.  Patey  to  pray  for  my 
release,"  was  his  pathetic  injunction  to  his  sister  on  her  going 
to  church.  Dr.  Boase  paid  him  a  long  visit.  His  sister  asked 
what  he  had  recommended.  "An  apple,"  answered  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  159 

doctor.  "  Dear  me  !  that  does  not  seem  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance." "  Oh,  yes,"  said  her  brother;  "an  apple  drove 
Adam  and  Eve  out  of  Paradise,  and  perhaps  this  apple  may 
drive  me  in."  He  amused  himself  afterwards  by  always 
calling  Dr.  Boase  "Eve." 

December  3. — Went  to  the  Sterlings'.  He  talked  of  the 
poets.  Shelley  a  complete  master  of  arabesque  poetry,  the 
peculiarity  of  arabesque  being  that  the  human  figure  is  never 
introduced.  Shelley  never  draws  either  a  distinct  person  or  a 
distinct  character,  but  only  abstractions  and  monsters.  This 
is  the  one  department  of  poetry  in  which  Byron  exceeded 
him  ;  throughout  his  writings  there  is  one  vague  gigantic 
figure  moodily  brooding.  It  is  said  that  Byron  got  some  of 
his  boldest  thoughts  from  "  Faust"  ;  but  this  does  not  seem 
likely.  Goethe  got  a  little  in  advance  of  the  highest  tenden- 
cies of  his  age,  but  still  that  was  the  tendency  which  Byron 
also  felt.  Contrasted  Wordsworth's  calmness  of  spirit  with 
Byron's  passionate  emotion  :  one  like  moonlight  on  snow ; 
the  other,  torchlight  in  a  cavern. 

Talked  of  Philip  van  Artevelde  (Taylor),  Irving,  Coleridge, 
and  Charles  Lamb  being  together;  and,  the  conversation 
turning  on  Mahomet,  Irving  reprobated  him  in  his  strongest 
manner  as  a  prince  of  impostors,  without  earnestness  and  with- 
out faith.  Taylor,  thinking  him  not  fairly  used,  defended 
him  with  much  spirit.  On  going  away,  Taylor  could  not  find 
his  hat,  and  was  looking  about  for  it,  when  Charles  Lamb 
volunteered  his  assistance,  with  the  query,  "  Taylor,  did  you 
come  in  a  h-h-hat  or  a  t-t-t-turban  ?" 

December  5. — Sad  account  of  Dr.  Calvert  to-day.  He  is 
very,  very  low,  lying  in  silence  all  day  and  taking  interest  in 
nothing.  "Will  you  see  Sterling  to-day?"  "Why,  yes,"  he 
said  ;  "  he  may  come  and  look  at  the  beast,  but  I  can't  speak 
to  him.  He  may  just  shake  hands  with  me,  but  nothing  more." 
He  speaks  of  his  mind  being  through  all  in  great  peace. 

December  7. — John  Sterling  has  written  him  a  most  touch- 
ingly  beautiful  leave-taking  letter,  which  they  have  not  yet 
ventured  to  show  him. 


160  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

December  9. — He  feels  as  if  the  Almighty  had  hidden  His 
face  from  him,  and  yearns  for  the  bright  glimpses  which  have 
been  so  often  vouchsafed  him.  A  few  days  since,  he  had  a 
full  outpouring  to  his  sister  concerning  his  faith  in  his  Re- 
deemer being  the  only  support  for  him  now. 

December  18. — He  has  taken  a  fancy  to  have  a  series  of  old 
nurses  to  sit  by  him  at  night :  he  is  interested  in  drawing 
them  out  on  their  experience  of  life. 

December  26. — This  morning  he  was  supposed  to  be  dying  ; 
he  had  passed  twelve  hours  without  food,  and  then  fell  asleep 
in  utter  exhaustion,  from  which  they  thought  he  could  scarcely 
awake.  He  was  himself  surprised  at  the  vigor  he  showed,  and 
said,  "  Perhaps  God  may  see  it  best  for  my  further  purification 
that  I  should  again  be  shipwrecked  into  life  !"  He  said  he 
had  had  a  glorious  prospect,  a  view  of  such  happiness,  and 
ejaculated  a  little  prayer  for  its  realization.  Last  evening  he 
fancied  that  some  of  his  family  who  are  dead  were  around 
him,  and  he  enjoyed  the  idea  :  he  dwells  much  on  the  de- 
parted ones.  He  had  long  since  told  Sterling  that  when  on 
his  death-bed  he  should  not  wish  to  have  those  about  him  who 
would  interest  or  excite  him  in  any  high  degree,  and  accord- 
ingly he  now  very  often  wishes  to  be  alone.  The  other  day 
J.  Stanger  gave  him  some  wine,  which  he  liked  and  asked  for 
another  glass;  in  this  a  large  dose  of  morphia  was  insinuated, 
which  the  doctor  presently  discovered,  and  insisted  on  his 
mild  brother-in-law  swallowing.  He  was  so  peremptory  that 
there  was  no  escape.  This  is  very  characteristic  of  the  fun 
which  still  lurks  in  his  nature. 

December  31. — At  twelve  o'clock  the  Old  Year  went  out 
in  obscure  darkness,  leaving  us,  I  hope,  somewhat  wiser  and 
better  from  our  intercourse  and  close  friendship  with  him. 
He  has  been  a  faithful  friend  to  me,  and  his  sunny  side  has 
been  generally  turned  towards  us.  May  we  use  the  young 
Heir  well  for  the  sake  of  its  ancestors  and  its  own  ! 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
1842. 

"  His  leaf  also  shall  not  wither." — PSALM  i.  3. 

Falmouth,  January  i. — What  an  era  is  every  New-Year's 
if  well  considered  !  Another  stage  in  our  journey,  a  shifting 
of  the  scene  without  interrupting  the  continuity  of  the  piece, 
but  rather  essential  to  its  representation  as  a  whole,  a  unity  ; 
the  winding-tip  of  our  watch  that  it  may  tell  us  the  time  to-mor- 
row ;  a  fresh  page  in  our  Book  of  Existence,  on  which  much 
may  be  written ;  by  itself  a  fragment,  but  how  important  to 
the  order  of  narration  and  to  the  train  of  thought,  shaping, 
coloring,  modifying,  developing  !  how  much  does  a  quiet  year 
silently  affect  our  condition,  character,  mode  of  thought  and 
action, — explain  mysteries  of  outward  and  inward  life,  and 
trace  some  of  the  sequences  in  the  phenomena  of  Being ! 

Our  dear  friend  Dr.  Calvert  is  very  low.  On  hearing  that 
John  Sterling  inquired  after  him,  he  said,  "I  sha'n't  see 
Sterling  again,  but  I  love  him  very  much."  He  is  so  earnest 
that  every  one  shoqld  rather  rejoice  than  grieve  for  him  when 
he  is  gone,  that  he  wishes,  through  Barclay,  to  give  dinners  at 
the  workhouse  and  make  it  a  time  of  festivity. 

January  6. — Large  party  of  Bullers,  Tremaynes,  Dykes, 
and  J.  A.  Froude  to  lunch.  There  were  too  many  to  enjoy 
any  thoroughly.  Anthony  Froude,  a  very  thoughtful  young 
man,  with  a  wonderful  talent  for  reading  lives  in  written 
characters.  To  John  Sterling  he  spoke  of  the  beautiful  purity 
of  the  early  Christian  Church;  Sterling  answered,  "If  any 
of  those  early  Christians  were  to  appear  now,  I  rather  think 
we  should  disclaim  fellowship." 

Dr.  Calvert  very  restless  and  wandering.  He  is  often 
heard  saying  to  himself,  "  There  is  a  great  Unseen  near  me." 

14*  161 


1 62  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

His  old  love  of  incongruities  looked  out  when  his  sister  spoke 
of  his  brothers  William  and  Racely  being  in  heaven.  "  Yes," 
he  said,  "  William  and  Racely,  and  Nimrod  and  Solomon, 
all  in  heaven." 

January  7. — Sterling  read  us  a  New  Year's  letter  from  Car- 
lyle,  thanking  him  for  much  kindness,  and  wishing  him  in- 
creasing steadiness,  zeal,  and  spiritual  life.  He  had  thought 
that  Sterling's  talent  was  rather  for  prose  than  poetry,  but 
"  Coeur  de  Lion"  made  him  recant. 

Sterling  gave  me  what  he  conceives  to  be  the  Idea  of 
"  Faust."  A  man  who  has  built  himself  up  in  theories,  specu- 
lations, and  abstractions,  enters  the  world,  and  finds  that  they 
will  not  support  him  amidst  its  temptations  and  the  strength 
of  his  own  passions,  and  in  his  fall  brings  misery  both  on 
himself  and  others.  He  considers  the  piece  quite  unfinished, 
as  a  final  reconciliation  was  needed  to  carry  out  the  design  of 
the  Prologue.  He  does  not  at  all  think  that  Goethe  meant 
to  indicate  that  Faust  was  ultimately  the  victim  of  Mephis- 
topheles.  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  it  now  bears  the  painful  ap- 
pearance of  Goethe's  having  conceived  the  evil  principle 
victorious  over  the  good. 

January  8. — Dr.  Calvert's  longings  for  death  this  morning 
were  most  touching.  "  Oh,  lead  me  to  the  still  waters  !"  was 
his  cry. 

January  9. — Our  dear  friend  Dr.  Calvert  was  this  morning 
permitted  to  put  off  the  life-garment  which  has  so  painfully 
encumbered  him,  and  is,  I  trust,  drinking  of  those  still  waters 
after  which  he  pined.  Oh,  we  do  rejoice  that  he  is  at  rest, 
though  his  poor  sister  is  overwhelmed  by  the  sense  of  being 
the  sole  survivor  of  her  family.  He  fell  into  unconsciousness 
last  evening,  and  his  first  awakening  was  in  that  eternity  which 
is  so  far  off  and  yet  so  near.  We  spent  a  quiet  hour  with  the 
Sterlings,  to  whom  this  event  is  a  great  sorrow ;  but  John  Ster- 
ling earnestly  congratulates  his  friend  on  having  finished  his 
battle  well.  He  went  into  a  beautiful  analysis  of  his  char- 
acter, contemplated  different  passages  in  his  life,  and  delighted 
to  dwell  on  their  close  friendship.  He  spoke  of  the  enthu- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ^3 

siasm  with  which  he  had  rushed  into  his  profession,  like  a 
French  grenadier  storming  a  fort ;  dilated  most  justly  on  the 
kindliness  of  his  nature,  his  consideration  for  the  feelings  of 
others,  his  morbid  sympathy  with  physical  suffering,  the  gen- 
tleness, goodness,  and  moral  beauty  of  his  character.  He 
considers  that  he  had  little  sense  of  the  Beautiful  as  such,  but 
liked  an  idea  that  pleased  him  as  much  in  an  ugly  as  a  beau- 
tiful form  ;  also,  that  he  had  no  taste  for  the  purely  specula- 
tive, but  unless  he  could  ally  thought  to  action  so  as  to  give 
it  a  bearing  on  his  practical  duties,  he  cared  little  for  it, — 
not  seeing  that  all  speculation  having  Truth  for  its  object  must 
in  the  long  run  affect  our  outward  life.  He  talked  with  much 
feeling  of  his  religious  views  and  the  ability  which  he  had  re- 
ceived to  cast  his  sins  behind  him  on  the  plea  that  Christ  had 
died.  "This  must  be  done,"  said  Sterling,  "if  progress  is 
to  be  maintained." 

January  10. — Visit  from  John  Sterling;  he  was  very  full  of 
a  letter  from  J.  S.  Mill  on  Puseyism :  it  is  written  in  the  same 
spirit  of  calm  philosophical  toleration  as  Carlyle's  Essay  on 
Diderot ;  he  views  it  as  a  consistent  expression  of  Church-of- 
Englandism,  very  interesting  to  investigate. 

Went  to  Perran  :  Sterling  came  too.  Uncle  Charles  asked 
if  Neander  was  a  neologian.  "Why,"  said  Sterling,  "just 
as  every  German  is  one, — that  is,  submitting  the  Bible  to  the 
same  rules  of  criticism  as  are  applied  to  other  ancient  records." 
Belief  in  its  plenary  verbal  inspiration  would  be  as  phenomenal 
there  as  mesmerism  is  in  England.  What  the  Germans  call 
"  neologists"  are  those  who  carry  this  doctrine  to  the  extent 
of  disbelieving  its  records  of  miracles.  Rationalists,  of  whom 

A is  the  representative,  hold  the  reporters  to  have  given 

in  their  histories  incorrectly;  for  instance,  that  Jesus  was  walk- 
ing on  the  shore,  when  they  say  he  was  walking  on  the  sea. 
The  last  and  now  prevailing  philosopho-theological  creed  is 
that  of  the  mythical  interpretation  of  Scripture,  of  which 
Strauss's  book  on  the  "  Life  of  Christ"  is  the  best  exponent. 

January  13. — Our  dear  friend  was  followed  to  his  last  rest- 
ing-place on  earth  by  a  heavy-hearted  train  of  mourners. 


1 64  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

John  Sterling  wrote  this  little  epitaph,  to  be  read  hereafter 
over  his  grave  : 

"To  THE  MEMORY  OF  JOHN  MITCHENSON  CALVERT,  M.D., 

WHO    DIED   ON   THE   pTH    OF   JANUARY,   1842,  AGED    40. 

Pure  soul !  strong,  kind,  and  peaceful,  'mid  the  pain 

That  racked  and  solemnized  thy  torch  of  Love, 
Here  in  our  world  below  we  mourn  in  vain, 

But  would  not  call  thee  from  thy  world  above. 
Of  varied  wisdom,  and  of  heart  sincere, 

Through  gloomy  ways  thy  feet  unfaltering  trod, 
Reason  thy  lamp,  and  Faith  thy  star  while  here, 

Now  both  one  brightness  in  the  Light  of  God." 

His  sister  showed  me  a  series  of  his  letters  from  Germany 
and  Italy  when  travelling  there  with  John  Sterling.  They  are 
as  much  a  journal  of  his  inner  as  of  his  outer  life,  telling, 
among  other  things,  how  the  impulses  from  without — those  old 
religious  paintings,  for  instance — affected  his  inward  being. 
The  practical  exhibition  of  a  perfect  acquiescence  in  the  will 
of  God  amidst  great  suffering  and  depression,  of  almost  the 
dissolution  of  his  individual  will  into  that  of  the  higher  will, 
is  touchingly  beautiful. 

January  19. — Mr.  Stanger  showed  us  a  letter  of  condolence 
from  Wordsworth,  in  which  he  says  that  the  bequest  of  Dr. 
Calvert's  uncle,  Racely,  was  what  enabled  him  to  devote  him- 
self to  literary  pursuits,  and  give  his  talents,  such  as  they  were, 
opportunity  to  develop  themselves.  He  also  says  that  the 
last  two  lines  of  Sterling's  epitaph  are  excellent ;  rare  praise 
from  Wordsworth. 

January  28. — A  long  walking  ride  with  John  Sterling.  On 
Goethe's  "Tasso"  and  "  Iphigenia :"  he  says  the  latter  is  by 
far  the  grander  work,  but  fewer  people  could  have  written 
"  Tasso,"  it  displays  such  dainty,  delicate  touches,  just  letting 
us  into  the  secret  of  the  princess's  feeling,  but  not  playing 
with  it.  Also,  the  exact  tone  of  a  court  which  it  gives  is  in- 
imitable by  any  who  have  not  lived  there  on  the  same  terms 
as  Goethe.  On  Coleridge  he  was  very  interesting.  Spoke  of 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  165 

the  womanly  delicacy  of  his  mind  :  his  misfortune  was  to  ap- 
pear at  a  time  when  there  was  a  man's  work  to  do, — and  he 
did  it  not.  He  had  not  sufficient  strength  of  character,  but 
professed  doctrines  which  he  had  ceased  to  believe,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  trouble  of  controversy.  He  and  Carlyle  met 
once;  the  consequence  of  which  was  that  Coleridge  disliked 
Carlyle,  and  Carlyle  despised  Coleridge. 

Sterling  spoke  of  the  great  importance  of  making  allowance 
for  inward  as  well  as  outward  conditions.  "  Some  are  naturally 
so  constituted  as  to  make  certain  trains  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing, which  appear  to  you  natural  and  necessary,  impossible  to 
them.  If  you  admit  this  principle,  you  will  get  at  wide  re- 
sults. Contrasted  the  outward  facts  which  bind  most  Chris- 
tians together,  such  as  a  church,  and  ordained  minute  cere- 
monies, and  the  inward  fact  of  spiritual  communion,  the  belief 
in  which  has  united  the  Society  of  Friends  since  the  days  of 
George  Fox."  He,  however,  thinks  that  this  invisible  bond 
will  not  forever  keep  the  latter  together  as  a  separate  body, 
and  is,  I  think,  disposed  to  wish  that  by  a  general  amalgama- 
tion with  other  bodies  their  high  and  peculiar  doctrines  may 
be  more  widely  disseminated  and  felt. 

February  2. — Cousin  Elizabeth  Fry  sends  a  simple  and 
characteristic  account  of  her  dinner  at  the  Mansion-House 
on  the  occasion  of  Prince  Albert's  laying  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  Royal  Exchange:  "I  think  you  will  be  interested  to 
hear  that  we  got  through  our  visit  to  the  Mansion-House  with 
much  satisfaction.  After  some  little  difficulty  that  I  had  in 
arriving,  from  the  crowd  which  overdid  me  for  the  time,  I 
was  favored  to  revive,  and  when  led  into  the  drawing-room 
by  the  Lord  Mayor  I  felt  quiet  and  at  ease.  Soon  my  friends 
flocked  around  me.  I  had  a  very  satisfactory  conversation 
with  Sir  James  Graham,  and  I  think  the  door  is  open  for  fur- 
ther communication  on  a  future  day.  It  appeared  most  sea- 
sonable, my  then  seeing  him.  I  then  spoke  to  Lord  Aber- 
deen for  his  help,  if  needful,  in  our  foreign  affairs.  During 
dinner,  when  I  sat  for  about  two  hours  between  Prince  Albert 
and  Sir  Robert  Peel,  we  had  deeply  interesting  conversation 


X66  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

on  the  most  important  subjects.  With  Prince  Albert  upon 
religious  principle,  its  influence  on  sovereigns  and  its  impor- 
tance in  the  education  of  children  ;  and  upon  modes  of  wor- 
ship, our  views  respecting  them, — why  I  could  not  rise  at  their 
toasts,  not  even  at  the  one  for  the  queen,  why  I  could  rise 
for  prayer;  also  on  the  management  of  children  generally; 
on  war  and  peace ;  on  prisons  and  punishment.  I  had  the 
same  subjects,  or  many  of  them,  with  Sir  Robert  Peel.  The 
kindness  shown  me  was  extraordinary.  After  dinner  I  spoke 
to  Lord  Stanley  about  our  colonies,  and  I  think  I  was  enabled 
to  speak  to  all  those  in  power  that  I  wanted  to  see.  I  shook 
hands  very  pleasantly  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who 
spoke  beautifully,  expressing  his  desire  to  promote  the  arts  of 
peace  and  not  those  of  war ;  he  said  he  was  not  fond  of  re- 
membering the  days  that  were  past,  as  if  the  thoughts  of  war 
pained  him.  Although  this  dinner,  as  numbers  I  have  been 
at,  may  not  in  all  respects  accord  with  my  ideas  of  Christian 
simplicity,  I  have  felt,  and  feel  now,  if  on  such  occasions  I 
seek  to  keep  near  to  my  Guide  and  in  conduct  and  conversa- 
tion to  maintain  my  testimony  to  what  I  believe  right,  I  am 
not  out  of  my  place  in  them,  when,  as  it  was  the  other  day,  I 
feel  it  best  to  go  to  them." 

February  4. — Bessie  Fry  sends  an  account  of  the  King  of 
Prussia's  visit  to  Cousin  Elizabeth  Fry.  They  spent  the 
morning  at  Newgate,  where  Cousin  Fry  read  with  the  women, 
and  then  prayed  for  them  and  for  the  king,  which  greatly 
affected  him;  he  knelt  all  the  time.  Bunsen  went  with  him 
to  Upton,  where  all  the  small  Fry  were  introduced  to  him, 
and  he  did  them  the  honor  to  wash  his  hands  and  to  eat  their 
luncheon. 

April  7. — Letter  to  Barclay  from  J.  S.  Mill,  dwelling  on 
Sterling's  character  and  intellectual  position,  and  condoling 
with  us  on  his  absence.  He  says,  "Sterling  fancies  himself 
idle  and  useless,  not  considering  how  wide  an  effect  his  letters 
and  conversation  must  produce;  and,  indeed,  the  mere  fact 
of  such  a  man  living  and  breathing  among  us  has  an  incalcu- 
lable influence." 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  167 

April  8. — Barclay  took  a  carriage-full  to  the  Mines.  The 
Vice-Chancellor  Shadwell  was  very  interesting  about  New 
Zealand  and  the  character  of  his  cousin,  the  new  bishop,  who 
has  gone  out  to  live  there  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  Christian 
missionary,  with  a  wife  as  an  able  assistant. 

April  1 8. — Gossiping  with  Lucy  Ellice  about  her  literary 
friends.  She  is  C.  J.  Fox's  cousin,  and  was  almost  brought 
up  at  Holland  House.  She  spoke  of  the  stool  which  Lady 
Holland  always  kept  by  her  side,  to  which  any  one  was  to  be 
called  whose  conversation  her  ladyship  fancied  for  the  time 
being.  Once  when  Lucy  was  called  there  to  describe  some 
Paris  ghost  for  the  benefit  of  a  large  party,  she  told  her 
hostess  that  she  reminded  her  of  a  French  lady  who  was  get- 
ting up  a  conversation  with  some  savants,  and,  after  having 
gone  systematically  through  a  number  of  subjects,  said,  "  Et 
a  present,  monsieur,  un  peu  de  religion  s'il  vous  plait." 
Sydney  Smith  said,  "  Lady  Holland  is  not  one  woman,  but  a 
multitude;  just  read  the  Riot  Act,  and  you'll  presently  see 
them  disperse." 

April  20. — At  Meeting  a  Friend  spoke  very  sweetly,  but, 
from  circumstances  over  which  she  had  little  control,  her  ser- 
mon forcibly  reminded  me  of  ."going  to  Bexico  to  zee  de 
Bunkies." 

May  12. — Barclay  had  one  of  John  Mill's  letters.  He 
writes  of  his  (Barclay's)  lecture  on  Modern  British  Poets  in 
the  warmest  terms :  had  it  been  the  production  of  a  young 
writer  unknown  to  him,  he  should  have  said  that  he  had  taken 
the  right  road,  and  was  likely  to  go  on  far.  His  "Logic" 
comes  out  at  Christmas. 

London,  May  17. — To  the  College  of  Surgeons  to  meet 
Professor  Owen,  who  showed  us  over  their  museum  and  added 
infinitely  to  its  interest  by  his  luminous  expositions.  The 
things  are  arranged  altogether  physiologically  on  the  idea 
which  Hunter  first  struck  out  and  worked  on,  that  there  is  a 
certain  analogy  of  structure  running  throughout  nature,  vege- 
table as  well  as  animal ;  a  hyacinth,  for  instance,  has  its  fibres, 
but  no  internal  stomach,  so  the  earth  in  which  it  is  imbedded 


1 68  At  EMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

acts  as  one.  Owen  believes  that  no  animal  has  sensation  un- 
less furnished  with  a  brain ;  therefore  the  cuttle-fish  is  the 
lowest  creature  which  can  be  effectively  treated  with  cruelty. 
Examined  a  long  series  of  skulls ;  those  of  babies  so  much 
phrenologically  better  than  grown  persons, — which  Owen 
thinks  quite  natural,  as  they  came  uncontaminated  from  the 
Author  of  all  goodness,  and  degenerate  after  contact  with -the 
world. 

May  28. — Called  at  Cheyne  Row,  where  Carlyle  and  his 
wife  received  us  with  affectionate  cordiality.  He  looks  re- 
markably well  and  handsome,  but  she  has  not  at  all  recovered 
the  shock  of  her  mother's  death.  He  wanted  to  know  what 
we  were  doing  at  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and  what  were  its 
objects  and  functions,  and  remarked  on  the  deepening  ob- 
servable among  Friends ;  but  when  we  told  of  the  letter  to 
the  queen  recommendatory  of  peace  in  Afghanistan,  he  was 
terribly  amused.  "  Poor  little  queen  !  She'd  be  glad  enough 
to  live  in  peace  and  quietness  if  the  Afghans  would  but  sub- 
mit to  her  conditions."  He  feels  somehow  but  little  interest 
in  the  whole  affair,  it  is  such  a  long  way  off,  and  there  is 
plenty  of  stirring  serious  work  to  be  done  at  home.  "  I  take 
a  greater  interest  in  Sir  Alexander  Burn  than  in  any  of  them, 
I  suppose  just  because  I  have  seen  him,  and  can  represent  him 
to  myself  as  a  person  not  very  fit  for  the  sharp  work  they  had 
for  him  to  do,  and  so  they  took  the  life  out  of  him  at  last,  poor 
fellow  !"  Of  himself  he  says  that  it  is  just  the  old  story  of 
indigestion  ;  dyspepsia  is  a  sort  of  perennial  thing  with  him 
(how  much  does  this  explain  !)  ;  he  can  do  no  work  before 
breakfast,  but  is  just  up  to  viewing  life  in  general,  and  his  own 
life  in  particular,  on  the  shady  side.  Got  somehow  to  Emer- 
son, who  is  quietly  but  deeply  influencing  a  few  both  in  Eng- 
land and  America.  Fraser  tells  him  that  the  English  edition 
of  the  "  Lectures"  is  disappearing,  which  he  is  glad  to  hear 
of.  In  America  he  is  indeed  a  great  phenomenon ;  he  must 
live  and  feel  and  think,  apart  from  public  opinion,  on  the 
adamantine  basis  of  his  own  manhood.  The  Carlyles  like  his 
conversation  much  better  than  his  books,  which  they  think 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ify 

often  obscure  and  involved  both  in  conception  and  execu- 
tion. I  remarked  on  the  democratic  way  in  which  he  had 
levelled  all  ranks  of  subjects  and  holy  and  unholy  personages. 
"  Why,"  Carlyle  answered,  "  they  are  all  great  facts,  and  he 
treats  them  each  as  a  fact,  of  value  rather  with  reference  to 
the  whole  than  to  any  preconceived  theory.  I  was  amused, 
on  asking  Webster  about  him  the  other  day,  to  hear  him  say, 
'Oh,  do  you  mean  the  Socinian  minister?1  You  see,  he  has 
no  vote  in  Congress,  no  recognized  authenticated  outward 

influence.     He  is  going  to  send  me  a  man  called  B ,  who 

is  coming  over  with  some  '  new  ideas'  about  making  a  new 
world,  but  it  hasn't  seemed  to  strike  him  that  he  has  a  world 
within  his  own  waistcoat  which  would  employ  all  his  thought 
and  energy  if  he  would  but  give  it.  Some  time  since  there  was 
a  little  Frenchman  here,  and  he  wanted  to  make  a  new  world, 
for  he  too  had  some  '  new  ideas,'  and  so  he  was  collecting 
money  from  all  quarters,  for  it  takes  a  good  round  sum  to 
make  a  new  world ;  however,  it  turned  out  but  a  swindling 
affair,  after  all."  Carlyle  gave  me  a  number  of  the  "  Dial," 
which  Emerson  has  marked  and  sent  him  as  a  good  sample  of 
the  tone  and  struggling  nature  of  earnest  American  thought ; 
also  an  American  pamphlet  on  Capital  Punishment,  with  some 
of  his  own  characteristic  notes  in  the  margin.  Carlyle  does 
not  like  capital  punishment,  because  he  wishes  men  to  live 
as  much  and  as  long  as  possible ;  he  rejoices  in  the  increasing 
feeling  that  it  is  a  right  solemn  thing  for  one  man  to  say  to 
another,  "  Give  over  living  !"  But  on  my  characterizing  it 
as  a  declaration  that  though  God  could  bear  with  the  crim- 
inal, man  could  not,  he  said,  "  Why,  there  are  many  things 
in  this  world  which  God  bears  with  :  he  bears  with  many  a 
dreary  morass  and  waste,  yet  he  gives  to  man  the  will  and  the 
power  to  drain  and  to  till  it  and  make  oats  grow  out  of  it. 
But  you'll  make  no  oats  grow  out  of  men's  corpses.  This 
pamphlet-author  is  oddly  inconsistent ;  with  all  his  enthusi- 
astic feeling  for  the  value  of  individual  life,  he  is  quite  in 
favor  of  going  to  war  with  England,  thus  willing  to  sacrifice 
thousands  of  brave  fellows,  while  he  would  save  the  life  of  a 
H  15 


iyo 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


miserable  rascal  like  Good,  who  cut  his  wife  into  pieces  and 
stuffed  them  into  a  coach-box."  Carlyle's  laughs  are  famous 
fellows,  hearty  and  bodily.  He  was  interested  in  hearing  of 
Sterling's  Polytechnic  lecture,  and  amused  to  learn  the  horror 
which  the  mention  of  his  (Carlyle's)  name  aroused.  "  I  sup- 
pose they  took  me  for  Richard  Carlile  ;  but  they  say  that  even 
Richard  has  taken  another  turn  and  become  a  religious  char- 
acter. I  remember  when  his  father  was  a  bookseller  and  his 
shopmen  were  constantly  being  taken  up  for  selling  the  sort 
of  book  he  kept,  yet  there  was  such  an  enthusiastic  feeling 
towards  him,  such  a  notion  that  he  was  supporting  the  right 
cause,  that  no  sooner  was  one  taken  up  than  another  offered 
himself  from  the  country,  and  so  he  was  always  kept  supplied. 
Edward  Irving  fell  in  with  one  of  them  at  Newgate,  who  ap- 
pealed to  him  as  to  whether  it  was  not  very  hard  to  be  im- 
prisoned for  disseminating  views  which  he  honestly  believed 
to  be  true.  Irving  rather  agreed  with  him,  and  he  afterwards 
paraded  Irving's  opinion  in  a  somewhat  mortifying  manner." 
He  (Carlyle)  spoke  on  politics  and  bribery,  and  the  deep  and 
wide  influence  of  money,  which  seems  now  the  one  recogniz- 
able claim  to  human  esteem.  "  But  that  can't  last  long," 
quoth  I.  "No,  it  can't  last,"  he  replied  ;  "unless  God  in- 
tend to  destroy  the  earth  at  once  and  utterly."  He  looks  to 
Parliament  for  some  great  vital  change  in  our  condition,  and 
expects  that  ere  long  some  sincere,  earnest  spirit  will  arise  and 
gradually  acquire  and  exert  influence  over  the  rest.  Not  that 
he  supposes  it  will  ever  again  take  the  form  of  Cromwell's 
Revolution.  Roebuck,  he  thinks,  would  very  much  like  the 
place  of  the  Lord  Protector  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land !  The  other  day  he  was  talking  with  him  about  bribery, 
when  Roebuck  said,  "Really,  if  you  so  remove  temptation, 
you  will  take  away  opportunity  for  virtue."  "Then,"  said 
Carlyle,  "  we  must  acknowledge  as  a  great  encourager  of  vir- 
tue one  who  certainly  has  not  got  much  credit  for  it  yet, — 
namely,  the  devil."  He  thinks  it  would  have  a  wonderful 
effect  in  the  House  if  Roebuck  was  to  raise  his  small  curious 
person,  and  with  his  thin,  shrill  voice  give  utterance,  "  Either 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  i?I 

bribery  is  right  or  wrong  :  if  wrong,  let  us  give  up  practising 
it  and  abuse  it  less;  if  right,  let  it  go  on  without  outcry." 
They  were  very  kind,  and  pressed  us  to  spend  an  evening  with 
them,  which  I  trust  we  shall  be  able  to  do. 

May  29. — The  Derwent  Coleridges  have  given  up  the 
school  at  Helston  and  settled  near  London,  at  St.  Mark's 
College.  To-day  he  showed  us  over  the  place  with  great  de- 
light, himself  so  completely  in  keeping  with  it,  in  the  mixture 
of  Byzantine  and  German,  ecclesiastical  feeling  and  specula- 
tive poetry.  In  pointing  out  different  arrangements,  he  would 
say,  in  an  explanatory  tone,  "  This  is,  according  to  our  views, 
very  important."  Their  object  is  to  train  up  a  class  of 
teachers  intermediate  between  the  present  aristocratic  consti- 
tution of  the  Church  and  the  extremely  ignorant  set  who  have 
now  to  fulfil  its  inferior  offices.  This  link  is  in  the  way  to  be 
supplied,  as  this  is  a  sort  of  college,  where  they  not  only  study, 
but  practise  teaching  and  reading  subordinate  parts  of  the 
service.  He  sees  that  a  similar  plan  has  been  of  wonderful 
use  among  the  Methodists  and  has  long  been  a  desideratum 
in  the  Church.  What  may  not  be  hoped  when  the  Church 
can  thus  stretch  out  ten  thousand  arms  at  once, — all-em- 
bracing !  all-gathering  ! 

Steamed  away  to  London  Bridge,  and  saw  the  Maurices, 
and  liked  them  much.  He*  is  not  at  all  dogmatic  in  his 
manner,  but  kind  and  conciliating.  He  thinks  that  Carlyle 
has  much  more  real  sympathy  with  moral  excellence  than  in- 
tellectual force,  thus  that  he  raves  a  great  deal,  but  never 
really  sympathizes  with  Goethe  as  he  does  with  Dante.  He 
has  just  been  with  Wordsworth,  who  is  now  in  town  and  seems 
in  force  and  vigor. 

May  30. — A  very  pleasant  chatty  tea  with  the  Owens,  talk- 
ing over  phrenology,  mesmerism,  and  interpersonal  influence. 
Faraday  is  better,  but  greatly  annoyed  by  his  change  of 
memory.  He  remembers  distinctly  things  that  happened 

*  Maurice  (Rev.  Frederick  Denison),  born  1805  ;  chaplain  to  Lincoln's  Inn ; 
Professor  of  Modern  History  to  King's  College,  London,  etc.  He  died  in 
1872. 


172 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


long  ago,  but  the  details  of  present  life,  his  friends'  Christian 
names,  etc.,  he  forgets.  Lyell  is  away  lecturing  in  America. 
May  31. — Dined  at  the  Mills', — a  biennial  jubilee  ;  John 
Mill  in  glorious  spirits ;  too  happy  to  enter  much  into  deep 
things.  He  alluded  to  the  indescribable  change  and  growth 
he  experienced  when  he  made  the  discovery  that  what  was 
right  for  others  might  not  be  right  for  him.  Talked  of  life 
not  being  all  fun,  though  there  is  a  great  deal  of  fun  in  it. 
His  view  of  Goethe's  character  is  a  refined  selfishness,  but 
then  he  added,  with  a  sincere  modesty,  "  Sterling  used  to 
say  the  same  sort  of  things  of  Goethe  as  I  do  now,  and,  as  he 
is  always  making  progress,  I  fully  believe  that  he  is  right  in 
his  enthusiasm,  though  I  cannot  now  sympathize  with  it.  He 
says  that  '  Hermann  and  Dorothea'  make  you  love  Goethe  : 
I  confess  that  t  never  met  with  anything  yet  which  had  that 
effect  on  me."  He  is  greatly  relieved  at  having  finished  his 
"  Logic,"  and  is  going  to  mark  the  best  passages  for  me  with 
notes  of  admiration.  He  said,  "  My  family  have  no  idea  how 
great  a  man  I  am  !"  He  is  how  saving  up  his  holidays  for  a 
third  journey  to  Italy :  he  had  serious  hopes  of  an  illness  in 
the  winter,  but  was  conscientious  enough  not  to  encourage 
it !  He  is  inclined  to  agree  with  Wordsworth  in  the  defence 
of  capital  punishments,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  has  not  quite 
made  up  his  mind.  He  thinks  Carlyle  intolerant  to  no  class 
but  metaphysicians  ;  owing  to  his  entire  neglect  of  this  mode 
of  thought,  he  is  presently  floored  by  Sterling  in  argument. 
Carlyle  is  not  getting  on  pleasantly  with  his  work  on  the  Civil 
Wars  :  he  finds  so  little  standing  authority ;  and  the  mode 
of  revolutionary  thought  then  was  so  different  to  what  the 
present  age  can  sympathize  with ;  all  its  strivings  were  for 
immediate  results,  no  high  abstract  principles  apparently  in- 
fluenced them, — except  transiently.  John  Mill  had  designed 
writing  a  work  on  the  French  Revolution,  when  he  heard  of 
Carlyle's  purpose,  and  accordingly  made  over  his  books  of 
reference  to  him ;  the  world  has  also  been  deprived  of  a 
History  of  Greece  from  his  pen,  because  Thirl  wall  was  just 
beforehand  with  him. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  173 

June  i. — Visit  from  the  Edward  Sterlings,  who  were  much 
excited  at  another  attempt  at  shooting  the  queen,  which  hap- 
pened last  evening  in  the  Park.  The  day  before,  the  man 
had  been  there  ready  for  action,  but  was  unavoidably  pre- 
•vented  ;  this  was  mentioned  to  her  Majesty,  who  ordered  a 
double  number  of  police  in  their  plain  clothes  to  be  stationed 
in  the  Park,  and  forbade  her  ladies  to  attend  her  and  expose 
themselves  to  danger  from  which  she  would  not  shrink.  The 
man  raised  the  pistol  within  three  paces  of  the  carriage,  when 
a  policeman  struck  it  down  harmless.  The  queen  and  prince 
stood  up  in  the  carriage  and  were  greeted  with  the  utmost 
enthusiasm. 

June  2. — Amelia  Opie  to  breakfast.  Two  of  the  themes 
she  wrote  for  our  school-room  are  published,  or  to  be  pub- 
lished, in  America.  She  is  having  her  swing  of  London  ex- 
citement. 

Hampstead,  June  4. — Gurney  Hoare  brought  us  the  good 
news  that  William  Wordsworth  was  staying  at  old  Mrs. 
Hoare's  ;  so  thither  he  took  us.  He  is  a  man  of  middle 
height  and  not  of  very  striking  appearance ;  the  lower  part  of 
the  face  retreating  a  little ;  his  eye  of  a  somewhat  French 
diplomatic  character,  with  heavy  eyelids,  and  none  of  the 
flashing  which  one  connects  with  poetic  genius.  When  speak- 
ing earnestly,  his  manner  and  voice  become  extremely  ener- 
getic ;  and  the  peculiar  emphasis,  and  even  accent,  he  throws 
into  some  of  his  words,  add  considerably  to  their  force.  He 
evidently  loves  the  monologue  style  of  conversation,  but 
shows  great  candor  in  giving  due  consideration  to  any  re- 
marks which  others  may  make.  His  manner  is  simple,  his 
general  appearance  that  of  the  abstract  thinker,  whom  his  sub- 
ject gradually  warms  into  poetry.  Now  for  some  of  these 
subjects. 

Mamma  spoke  of  the  beauty  of  Rydal,  and  asked  whether  it 
did  not  rather  spoil  him  for  common  scenery.  "  Oh,  no," 
he  said  ;  "it  rather  opens  my  eyes  to  see  the  beauty  there  is 
in  all ;  God  is  everywhere,  and  thus  nothing  is  common  or 
devoid  of  beauty.  No,  ma'am,  it  is  the  feeling  that  instructs 

15* 


174 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


the  seeing.  Wherever  there  is  a  heart  to  feel,  there  is  also  an 
eye  to  see ;  even  in  a  city  you  have  light  and  shade,  reflec- 
tions, probably  views  of  the  water  and  trees,  and  a  blue  sky 
above  you,  and  can  you  want  for  beauty  with  all  these? 
People  often  pity  me  while  residing,  in  a  city,  but  they  need- 
not,  for  I  can  enjoy  its  characteristic  beauties  as  well  as  any." 
I  said  that  Lamb's  rhapsody  on  London  might  not  then  have 
been  sent  to  him  in  a  spirit  necessarily  ironical.  "  Oh,  no," 
he  answered,  "and  Lamb's  abuse  of  the  country  and  his 
declared  detestation  of  it  was  all  affected  ;  he  enjoyed  it  and 
entered  into  its  beauties  ;  besides,  Lamb  had  too  kindly  and 
sympathetic  a  nature  to  detest  anything."  Barclay  asked 
him  about  Hartley  Coleridge.  He  thinks  that  there  is  much 
talent  but  no  genius  in  his  poetry,  and  calls  him  an  eminently 
clever  man.  One  thing  he  has  learnt, — that  poetry  is  no 
pastime,  but  a  serious  earnest  work,  demanding  unspeakable 
study.  "Hartley  has  no  originality;  whenever  he  attempts 
it,  it  is  altogether  a  mistake  ;  he  is  so  fond  of  quaintness  and 
contrariety,  which  is  quite  out  of  keeping  with  a  true  poet : 
and  then  he  is  of  that  class  of  extreme  Radicals  who  can 
never  mention  a  bishop  or  a  king,  from  King  David  down- 
ward, without  some  atrabilious  prefix  or  other.  Surely  this 
is  excessively  narrow  and  excessively  vain,  to  put  yourself  in 
opposition  to  the  opinions  and  institutions  which  have  so 
long  existed  with  such  acknowledged  benefit ;  there  must  be 
something  in  them  to  have  attracted  the  sympathies  of  ages 
and  generations.  I  hold  that  the  degree  in  which  poets 
dwell  in  sympathy  with  the  past  marks  exactly  the  degree  of 
their  poetical  faculty.  Shelley,  you  see,  was  one  of  these, 
and  what  did  his  poetry  come  to?"  "But,"  said  I,  "some 
would  not  be  true  to  themselves  unless  they  gave  a  voice  to 
their  yearnings  after  the  Ideal  rather  than  the  Actual." 
"Ah,  but  I  object  to  the  perpetual  ill  humor  with  things 
around  them,"  he  replied;  "and  ill  humor  is  no  spiritual 
condition  which  can  turn  to  poetry.  Shakespeare  never 
declaimed  against  kings  or  bishops,  but  took  the  world  as  he 
found  it."  He  spoke  of  S.  T.  Coleridge,  and  the  want  of 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  175 

will  which  characterized  both  him  and  Hartley;  the  amazing 
effort  which  it  was  to  him  to  will  anything  was  indescribable : 
but  he  acknowledged  the  great  genius  of  his  poetry.  Talked 
of  superstition  and  its  connection  with  a  young  state  of 
society :  "  Why,  we  are  all  children  ;  how  little  we  know  ! 
I  feel  myself  more  a  child  than  ever,  for  I  am  now  in  bond- 
age to  habits  and  prejudices  from  which  I  used  to  be  free." 
Barclay  quoted  Emerson's  advice  to  imitate  the  independence 
of  the  school-boy  who  is  sure  of  his  dinner,  which  greatly 
pleased  him.  We  got,  I  forget  how,  to  the  subject  of  the 
divine  permission  of  evil,  which  he  said  he  has  always  felt 
the  hardest  problem  of  man's  being.  When  four  years  old 
he  had  quaked  on  his  bed  in  sharp  conflict  of  spirit  on  this 
subject.  "Nothing  but  faith  can  keep  you  quiet  and  at 
peace  with  such  awful  problems  pressing  on  you, — faith  that 
what  you  know  not  now  you  will  know  in  God's  good  time. 
It  is  curious,  in  that  verse  of  St.  Paul's  about  faith,  hope,  and 
charity  or  love,  that  charity  should  be  placed  the  highest  of 
the  three  ;  it  must  be  because  it  is  so  universal  and  limitless 
in  its  operations:  but  faith  is  the  highest  individual  ex- 
perience, because  it  conquers  the  pride  of  the  understanding, 
— man's  greatest  foe.  Oh,  how  this  mechanical  age  does 
battle  against  the  faith  !  it  is  altogether  calculated  to  puff  up 
the  pride  of  the  understanding,  while  it  contains  no  counter- 
acting principle  which  can  regulate  the  feelings ;  the  love  of 
the  beautiful  is  lost  in  notions  of  shallow  utility,  and  men 
little  think  that  the  thoughts  which  are  embodied  in  form 
around  them,  and  on  which  the  peasants'  shoon  can  trample, 
are  worth  more  than  all  their  steam-engines  and  railroads." 
"But  this  cannot  last:  there  must  be  a  reaction,"  said  I. 
"No,"  he  said,  "it  cannot  last;  God  is  merciful  and  loves 
His  earth,  and  it  cannot  last.  I  have  raised  my  voice  loudly 
against  it,  particularly  in  the  poem  on  the  treaty  of  Cintra; 
and  others  have  taken  up  the  sound  and  under  many  forms 
have  given  the  world  to  know  that  there  are  thoughts  in  man, 
by  which  he  holds  communion  with  his  God,  of  far  higher 
moment  than  any  outward  act  or  circumstance  whatever." 


76 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


We  took  a  truly  affectionate  leave  ;  he  held  my  hand  in  both 
of  his  for  some  time,  which  I  consider  a  marked  fact  in  my 
existence !  Mrs.  Wordsworth  was  there,  but  we  were  too 
much  absorbed  for  any  collateral  observations. 

June  6. — To  the  Carlyles',  where  we  were  received  with 
great  cordiality  in  the  library,  which  looks  well  suited  to  the 
work  performed  there.  Wax  medallions  of  Edward  Sterling 
and  his  son  hang  over  the  chimney-piece.  Thomas  Carlyle 
came  in  in  his  blouse,  and  we  presently  got,  I  know  not  how, 
to  Swedenborgianism.  Swedenborg  was  a  thoroughly  practi- 
cal, mechanical  man,  and  was  in  England  learning  ship- 
building. He  went  into  a  little  inn  in  Bishopsgate  Street, 
and  was  eating  his  dinner  very  fast,  when  he  thought  he  saw 
in  the  corner  of  the  room  a  vision  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  said 
to  him,  "Eat  slower."  This  was  the  beginning  of  all  his 
visions  and  mysterious  communications,  of  which  he  had 
enough  in  his  day.  He  gave  exactly  the  date — I  think  it  was 
the  5th  of  May,  1785 — when  Christianity  died  out,  that  is  to 
say,  when  the  last  spark  of  truth  left  its  professors,  which  is 
truly  the  death  of  anything :  and  that,  he  thought,  was  the 
day  of  judgment ;  not  our  old  notions  of  it  at  all,  but  a  sort 
of  invisible  judgment,  of  which  he  got  informed  in  his  visions. 
"There  was  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  man,  with  all  his 
visions  and  fancies,  and  many  hold  with  him  to  this  day. 
Law  got  many  of  his  notions  from  him.  Then  there's 
Bohme :  I  could  never  follow  him  in  his  books ;  it  is  the 
most  distracted  style  of  writing  possible.  His  first  vision 
was  of  a  bright  light  stretching  all  across  the  road,  which 
turned  out  to  be  an  angel,  who  communicated  with  him  ever 
after.  George  Fox  and  Novalis,  and  many  others,  were 
among  his  followers;  for  there's  a  deep  truth  in  him,  after 
all."  Then  he  continued  : 

"  'Tis  an  odd  thing  this  about  Queen  Victoria.  After 
having  had  a  champion  to  say  before  the  whole  assembly  of 
them,  'O  queen,  live  forever!'  a  little  insignificant  fellow 
comes  up,  points  his  pistol  at  her,  and  says,  '  Chimera  !  die 
this  minute  !'  Poor  little  queen  !  I  have  some  loyalty  about 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I?7 

me,  and  have  no  wish  to  see  her  shot ;  but  as  for  her  having 
any  right  to  hold  the  reins  of  government  if  she  could  not 
manage  them,  all  the  cart-loads  of  dirty  parchment  can't 
make  that  clear.  There  are  thousands  of  men  about  her 
made  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  with  the  same  eternities 
around  them,  and  they  want  to  be  well  governed  and  fed.  It 
is  something  to  get  it  recognized  that  the  ablest  man  should 
be  the  one  to  guide  us,  even  if  we  may  never  see  it  carried 
out."  Something  led  us  to  John  Mill:  "Ah,  poor  fellow! 
he  has  had  to  get  himself  out  of  Benthamism  ;  and  all  the 
emotions  and  sufferings  he  has  endured  have  helped  him  to 
thoughts  that  never  entered  Bentham's  head.  However,  he 
is  still  too  fond  of  demonstrating  everything.  If  John  Mill 
were  to  get  up  to  heaven,  he  would  hardly  be  content  till  he 
had  made  out  how  it  all  was.  For  my  part,  I  don't  much 
trouble  myself  about  the  machinery  of  the  place  ;  whether 
there  is  an  operative  set  of  angels  or  an  industrial  class,  I'm 
willing  to  leave  all  that.  Neither  do  I  ever  quake  on  my  bed 
like  Wordsworth,  trying  to  reconcile  the  ways  of  Providence 
to  my  apprehension.  I  early  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
was  not  very  likely  to  make  it  out  clearly :  the  notions  of  the 
Calvinists  seem  what  you  cannot  escape  from,  namely,  that  if 
it's  all  known  beforehand,  why,  it  all  must  happen.  This 
does  not  affect  your  actual  work  at  all ;  and  if  you  have  faith 
that  it  is  all  just  and  true,  why,  it  won't  harm  you  to  shape 
any  notions  about  it.  I  don't  see  that  we  do  any  good  by 
puzzling  our  poor  weak  heads  about  such  things  while  there 
is  plenty  of  clear  work  before  them  in  the  regions  of  practi- 
cability. In  the  mean  time,  I  know  that  I  have  uncontrolled 
power  over  one  unit  in  creation,  and  it's  my  business  in  life 
to  govern  that-one  as  well  as  possible.  I'm  not  over-fond  of 
Bolingbroke's  patronizing  Providence,  nor  of  Voltaire's — '  If 
there  were  no  God,  we  should  be  forced  to  invent  one  for  the 
completion  of  the  system.' ' 

On  finding  out  what  one's  path  in  life  really  is,  he  said, 
"  You're  better  judges  of  this  than  any  one  else,  yet  you  must 
often  waste  half  your  life  in  experimenting,  and  perhaps  fail 


I78  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

after  all !  There  is  a  set  of  people  whom  I  cannot  do  with 
at  all, — those  who  are  always  declaring  what  an  extremely 
perfect  world  this  is,  and  how  very  well  things  are  conducted 
in  it;  to  me  it  seems  all  going  wrong  and  tending  irresistibly 
to  change, — which  can't  but  be  for  the  worse."  I  asked  if 
there  was  a  single  institution  existing  which  was  as  he  would 
have  it.  "Why,  I  can't  say  there  is,  exactly."  Asked 
him  concerning  his  early  history,  as  compared  with  Teufels- 
drockh's.  "  Why,  my  advent,  I  believe,  was  not  at  all  out 
of  the  common  :  one  extraordinary  fact  of  my  childhood  was 
that,  after  eleven  months'  profound  taciturnity,  I  heard  a 
child  cry,  and  astonished  them  all  by  saying,  '  What  ails  wee 
Jock?'  A  small  acquaintance  of  mine  was  looking  at  some 
soldiers,  and  turned  solemnly  to  his  father :  '  Papa,  these 
were  once  men  !' — it  is  his  last  speech  on  record."  The 
description  of  Entepfuhl  is  identical  with  that  of  his  (Car- 
lyle's)  native  village  ;  also  the  indivisible  suit  of  yellow  serge 
is  historical,  into  which  he  had  daily  to  insinuate  himself. 
Talked  of  "Hermann  and  Dorothea,"  which  Mrs.  Carlyle 
says  he  likes  to  read  on  a  warm  day ;  he  thinks  Wordsworth 
might  have  written  it,  but  there  are  thoughts  in  Goethe,  and 
particularly  in  "  Wilhelm  Meister,"  which  a  dozen  Words- 
worths  could  not  see  into.  Their  two  maids  got  hold  of  his 
translation  of  the  book  and  were  always  at  it,  scrubbing  with 
one  hand  and  holding  the  book  with  the  other.  Talked  much 
on  the  misery  of  the  Scotch  poor:  he  feels  a  great  jealousy 
of  the  quantity  of  black  benevolence  which  goes  out  of 
the  country,  when  so  much  yellow  and  green  benevolence  is 
wanted  at  home, — at  Paisley  and  elsewhere  :  people  should 
sweep  clean  before  their  own  door.  He  spoke  vehemently  in 
favor  of  emigration.  He  told  us  of  having  once  been  with 
Elizabeth  Fry  at  Newgate,  where  she  read  the  story  of  Mary 
Magdalene  in  those  silver  tones  of  hers  :  it  went  from  the 
heart,  and  therefore  to  the  heart ;  there  was  nothing  theatrical 
about  it.  Mrs.  Fry  and  one  or  two  Quakeresses  who  were 
with  her  looked  like  a  little  spot  of  purity  in  a  great  swelter- 
ing mass  of  corruption.  We  then  talked  on  self-forgetful- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I79 

ness,  how  attainable  ?  You  can  soon  ascertain  whether  there 
is  any  affectation  about  you,  and  get  rid  of  that  first,  and 
then  the  faults  you  are  continually  falling  back  into  keep  down 
your  vanity  and  help  to  hold  the  balance  fair.  His  wife  was 
very  affectionate ;  her  health  and  spirits  are  deeply  depressed 
by  what  she  has  gone  through.  On  asking  her  which  work 
her  husband  had  had  the  greatest  pleasure  in  writing,  "  Oh," 
she  said,  "  he  has  pleasure  in  none,  he  is  always  so  dissatisfied 
with  what  he  does ;  but  the  one  which  gave  him  the  greatest 
torment  was  the  'French  Revolution.'  '  He  lent  the  MS. 
of  the  first  volume  to  a  gentleman  who  had  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  French  affairs  and  was  to  make  notes  and  cor- 
rections for  him.  One  day  he  called,  ran  up-stairs,  gave 
three  little  taps  at  their  door,  and  sent  her  down  to  a  lady 
who  was  waiting  outside,  just  saying,  "  Something  dreadful 
has  happened;  she'll  tell  you  what."  She  sprang  into  the 
carriage,  but  the  lady  would  only  say,  "Oh,  you'll  never 
speak  to  him  again  !"  Mrs.  Carlyle  suggested  all  imaginable 
misfortunes,  among  others,  "  Have  you  left  your  husband?" 
"  Oh,  no  ;  but  how  good  you  are  to  think  of  such  a  thing  !" 
In  fact,  she  could  not  get  it  out  at  all,  and  accordingly  rushed 
back  to  the  gentleman,  and  saw  her  husband  smiling  and  cut- 
ting up  a  candle-lighter.  "Tell  me  what  has  happened." 
"What!  hasn't  she  told  you?  Your  husband's  MS.  is  en- 
tirely destroyed."  She  was  relieved  at  first,  and  said  she  had 
expected  to  hear  of  a  murder ;  but  afterwards,  when  she  saw 
her  poor  husband  almost  frantic  over  his  work,  not  having 
kept  a  single  note  or  rough  copy  or  reference  of  any  kind, 
she  felt  the  full  force  of  the  trial.  He  always  writes  on  little 
scraps  of  paper,  copies  them  once  fairly,  and  twists  the  origi- 
nal scraps  into  matches. 

Carlyle's  conversation  and  general  views  are  curiously  dys- 
peptic, his  indigestion  coloring  everything.  There  was  some- 
thing particularly  engaging  in  his  reprobation  of  a  heartless 
caricature  of  the  execution  of  poor  Louis  XVI.,  which  he  de- 
sired us  not  to  look  at,  but  introduced  a  beautiful  one  of  him- 
self smoking  in  his  tub,  which  John  Sterling  compares  to  one 


!8o  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

of  Michael  Angelo's  prophets.  He  stood  at  the  window  with 
his  pipe  to  help  us  to  draw  a  comparison. 

June  10. — John  Mill  told  us  that  he  sent  "  Arthur  Conings- 
by,"  with  other  books,  some  years  ago  to  Carlyle  in  Scotland, 
which  so  interested  him  that  he  wished  to  know  the  author, 
and  thus  he  and  Sterling  began  their  friendship.  Called  on 
Sir  W.  Hooker  at  Kew  Gardens ;  his  enthusiasm  for  his  New 
Holland  shrubs  and  plants  knew  no  bounds.  They  are  in 
many  respects  totally  distinct  in  general  character  from  what 
we  are  accustomed  to,  presenting  the  edge  of  the  leaf  to  the 
sun,  and  other  fantastic  arrangements.  His  son  is  with  Cap- 
tain Ross. 

June  ii. — Elizabeth  Fry  took  us  to  Coldbath  Fields  Prison. 
Asked  her  concerning  her  experience  of  solitary  confinement : 
in  one  prison,  where  it  was  very  limitedly  used,  she  knew  of 
six  who  became  mad  in  consequence  of  it.  Met  the  Duchess 
of  Saxe-Weimar  (sister  to  our  queen-dowager),  her  two  pretty 
daughters,  and  Lady  Denbigh.  The  survey  of  the  prison  was 
exceedingly  interesting.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  of  our 
houses  of  correction,  though  a  severe  one,  as  whipping  and 
the  treadmill  are  still  allowed.  It  was  sad  to  see  the  poor  ex- 
hausted women  ever  toiling  upward  without  a  chance  of  pro- 
gress. The  silent  system  is  enforced  with  as  much  strictness 
as  they  can  manage,  but  of  course  it  is  sometimes  evaded.  It 
was  beautiful  to  hear  Cousin  Fry's  little  conversations  with 
them ;  her  tone  of  sympathy  and  interest  went  to  their 
hearts.  She  had  no  reading,  owing  to  the  High  Church  prin- 
ciples of  the  directors  and  chaplains  of  the  prison,  but  she 
craved  leave  to  tell  them  a  story  of  the  effect  of  one  passage 
from  the  Bible  on  a  poor  prisoner,  which  melted  many  of  them 
to  tears.  The  tact  with  which  she  treated  the  two  chaplains 
who  went  round  with  us  was  inimitable,  telling  them  that  if 
the  duchess  was  very  anxious  for  a  reading  she  would  propose 
to  turn  out  all  the  gentlemen  except  her  brother,  for  they  had 
said  it  would  be  impossible  to  be  present  at  worship  which  they 
did  not  conduct.  The  duchess  was  much  pleased,  and  with 
her  unaffected  daughters  drove  off  to  Chiswick. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  181 

June  1 6. — Met  John  Sterling,  fresh  from  Italy,  at  Temple 
Bar,  and  proceeded  by  appointment  to  the  rooms  of  William 
Smith,*  a  quiet,  recluse,  meditative,  abstract-looking  man, 
somewhat  like  F.  D.  Maurice.  It  was  pleasant  to  see  the 
warm  and  surprised  meeting  between  him  and  Sterling  after  a 
separation  of  many  years.  Progressed  to  the  old  Church  of 
the  Templars,  built  on  the  model  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem. 
W.  Smith  obtained  admission  for  us  by  means  of  a  weak 
brother  Bencher,  who  was  not  aware  of  a  recently  issued  pro- 
hibition, consequent  on  the  rush  of  visitors.  They  are  en- 
deavoring to  restore  it  to  its  antique  gorgeousness  by  painting 
the  ceiling  in  arabesque  after  contemporary  patterns,  inserting 
beautiful  colored  glass  windows,  relieving  the  marble  from  the 
stucco  by  which  it  had  been  concealed  in  the  days  of  the 
Puritans.  The  Mills  joined  us  in  the  survey.  This  was  the 
opening  scene  of  the  "  Onyx  Ring,"  and  the  only  church  in 
London,  as  the  author  said,  fit  for  the  scene.  It  was  much 
to  listen  to  him  and  John  Mill  on  Italy  and  the  thoughts  it 
inspired.  Sterling  has  advanced  to  the  conviction  that  Cor- 
reggio  is,  after  all,  the  painter  ;  he  alone  achieved  the  Im- 
possible :  the  others  are  all  attempts  more  or  less  successful. 
Raphael  you  can  carry  away  in  the  understanding,  but  you 
must  always  return  to  Correggio  to  drink  afresh  at  that  deli- 
cious fountain  of  pure  feeling.  Mill  remarked,  quietly,  "I 
am  greatly  confirmed  by  what  Sterling  has  just  said.  I  have 
for  some  time  come  to  the  same  conviction  about  Correggio." 
Visited  the  grand  old  Templars,  all  lying  in  state  under  a 
shed,  waiting  for  readjustment.  Sterling  expressed  all  the 
feeling  one  has  about  them  in  quoting  Coleridge's  lines, — 

"  Their  bones  are  dust, 
Their  good  swords  rust, 
Their  souls  are  with  the  saints,  I  trust,"— 

which  just  give  the  Middle-Age  spirit  of  chivalry  and  relig- 
ious faith.     It  is  said  that  all  monuments  of  Templars  have 

*  Smith   (William),   author   of  "  Guidone,"    "  Athelwold,"   "  Thorndale," 
"  Gravenhurst,"  and  other  works. 

16 


lS2  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

the  legs  crossed,  but,  as  the  opposite  case  has  been  equally 
proved,  Smith  remarked,  "I  am  gradually  coming  to  dis- 
believe everything  that  has  ever  been  asserted."  John  Mill 
talked  about  his  book  on  Logic,  which  he  is  going  to  give  us ; 
but  he  declares  it  will  be  more  intelligible  than  interesting, — 
how  intelligible  he  will  find  out  in  two  years.  He  forbids 
my  reading  it,  though,  except  some  chapters  which  he  will 
point  out.  "It  would  be  like  my  reading  a  book  on  mining 
because  you  live  in  Cornwall :  it  would  be  making  friendship 
a  burden  !" 

June  18. — To  Bridgewater  House,  to  see  the  pictures,  where 
we  met  Sterling.  His  criticisms  very  useful  and  illuminating. 
A  fine  ecclesiastical  head  suggested  the  following  story.  A 
Protestant  bishop  was  declaiming  to  a  Roman  Catholic  on 
the  folly  of  a  belief  in  Purgatory.  "  My  lord,"  was  the  reply, 
"  you  may  go  farther  and  fare  worse." 

We  then  went  to  Westmacott's  studio,  introduced  by  Fanny 
Haworth.  He  is  a  man  of  extreme  energy  and  openness 
of  countenance,  real  enthusiasm  for  his  art,  and  earnest  to 
direct  its  aim  as  high  as  heaven.  He  and  Sterling  had  sev- 
eral spirited  discussions  on  Greek  feeling  for  art,  and  how 
far  we  may  benefit  by  studying  from  such  models.  Westma- 
cott  thinks  that  our  enthusiasm  for  Greek  forms  is  merely 
the  effect  of  education,  because  their  mythology  has  given 
place  to  something  so  far  higher  and  purer.  Sterling  main- 
tained that  it  was  their  embodiment  of  all  that  was  worship- 
ful and  venerable,  and  in  so  far  as  they  succeeded,  it  must 
be  venerable  to  all  time  and  to  universal  man.  The  highest 
conquest  of  Art  is  to  combine  the  purest  feelings  with  the 
highest  forms,  and  if  this  is  effected  we  need  not  be  fastidi- 
ous about  the  medium,  or  be  deemed  profane  for  reverencing 
a  head  of  Jupiter.  Westmacott  delights  in  Flaxman,  and 
pointed  out  a  bas-relief  of  his  Mercury  and  Venus  "as  a 
little  piece  of  music."  "  A  most  pagan  illustration  by  a  most 
Christian  artist,"  said  Sterling.  "  I  cannot  desire  further 
confirmation  of  what  I  have  said."- 

June  19. — Saw  the Foxes.     They  are  very  full  of  De- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ^3 

ville,  the  phrenologist,  with  whom  they  have  had  some  inter- 
course. He  told  them  of  an  anonymous  lady  whom  he  had  to 
caution  against  sensitiveness  to  the  opinion  of  others.  Some 
years  afterwards  she  came  again  and  brought  a  daughter,  who, 
when  finished,  was  sent  into  another  room,  and  the  lady  con- 
sulted him  upon  her  own  cranium.  He  found  the  sensitive- 
ness so  fearfully  increased  as  almost  to  require  medical  treat- 
ment. He  afterwards  met  her  at  a  party,  when  she  introduced 
herself  to  him  as  Lady  Byron.  Her  third  visit  to  him  was 
made  whilst  Moore's  Life  of  her  husband  was  being  published, 
and,  in  accordance  with  his  prescription,  she  had  not  allowed 
herself  to  read  it. 

June  21. — At  the  African  meeting  ;  Lady  Parry  with  us,  and 
very  amusing.  We  sat  in  a  little  gallery  with  the  Duchess 
of  Sutherland,  her  three  daughters,  and  Lady  John  Russell, 
all  very  striking  women.  The  meeting  was  not  very  inter- 
esting, with  the  exception  of  a  brilliant  speech  from  Samuel 
Wilberforce,  full  of  eloquence  from  the  heart,  and  a  capital 
one  from  Lord  John  Russell,  in  which  he  thoroughly  com- 
mitted himself  to  measures  of  justice,  humanity,  and  civil 
progress. 

June  22. — Met  Samuel  Gurney  at  Paddington,  and  reached 
Hanwell  in  a  few  minutes.  Were  most  kindly  received  by 
Dr.  Conolly ;  he  has  had  the  superintendence  for  two  years, 
and  at  once  introduced  the  system  of  non -coercion  in  its  full- 
est sense,  though  feeling  that  it  was  a  very  bold  experiment 
and  required  intense  watching :  but  he  dared  it  all  for  the  sake 
of  a  deeply-suffering  portion  of  hum'anity,  with  most  blessed 
result.  It  was  delightful  to  observe  the  pleasure  with  which 
he  was  greeted  by  the  patients,  and  their  anxious  inquiries 
after  his  health,  for  he  has  been  ill  lately ;  and  the  extreme 
kindness,  gentleness,  and  patience  of  his  manner  towards 
them  was  the  triumph  of  sympathy,  forbearance,  and  love. 
All  the  assistants  seem  influenced  by  his  spirit,  and  it  is  a 
most  delightful  and  heart-cheering  spectacle  to  see  madness 
for  once  not  treated  as  a  crime. 

June  27. — A  charming  visit  from  M.  A.  Schimmelpenninck, 


1 84  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

who  looks  bright,  handsome,  and  active.  We  soon  got  to 
Roman  Catholicism  and  a  book  of  Miss  Agnew's,  "  Geral- 
dine,"  which  sets  forth  the  sunny  side  of  the  doctrine.  Mrs. 
Schimmelpenninck  would  define  the  principle  of  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism as  Belief,  that  of  Protestantism  as  Examination,  and  a 
just  mixture  of  these  two  she  conceives  to  be  the  true  article. 
As  for  any  one  party  getting  at  the  whole  truth,  she  justly 
considers  this  preposterous  enough,  and  illustrated  her  view 
by  the  account  an  Indian  missionary  gave  her  of  a  Christian 
native,  whom  he  had  been  asking  how  the  diversity  of  Chris- 
tian belief  which  had  come  before  them  from  the  settlement 
of  some  fresh  missionaries,  had  affected  them.  "  Why,"  he 
said,  "  it  is  like  a  city  of  the  blind  when  an  elephant  is  brought 
among  them  for  the  first  time.  Each  tries  to  give  an  account 
of  it.  One  says  it  is  like  the  tail  of  a  thing,  another,  it  is 
like  a  hoof,  and  so  on ;  and  when  they  begin  to  quarrel,  a 
seeing  man  tells  them,  '  It's  quite  true  that  part  is  like  a  tail, 
part  like  a  hoof,  but  none  of  you  have  any  idea  how  large  the 
elephant  is,  and  how  impossible  it  is  for  any  of  you  to  have 
felt  it  all."  '  Thus  she  is  always  anxious  that  we  should  not 
condemn  others  for  their  views,  however  little  we  can  see  with 
them.  She  talked  with  a  good  deal  of  poetical  truth  on 
Quakerism,  and  she  loves  the  conventual  effect  of  our  costumes. 
Falmouth,  July  12. — Capital  walk  with  John  Sterling.  He 
gave  a  very  interesting  chronological  sketch  of  German  phi- 
losophy, showing  how  one  man  and  his  system  were  the  almost 
necessary  deduction  from  the  preceding.  Leibnitz  began  the 
chain  of  those  Germans* who  addressed  themselves  to  think  ; 
then  a  long  interval,  at  the  end  of  which  Kant  appeared  and 
taught  the  supremacy  of  reason  as  exhibited  in  the  Divine 
works,  and,  above  all  others,  in  the  nature  of  man.  Fichte 
carried  this  still  further,  and  dogmatized  on  his  view  of  Truth 
to  the  exclusion  of  tolerance  towards  all  other  thinkers.  A 
witness  told  Sterling  of  an  interview  between  Fichte  and 
Schelling,  which  concluded  by  the  former  declaring  that  a 
man  who  could  believe  that  there  was  any  revelation  in  the 
dead  Nature  around  him,  and  not  that  it  dwelt  only  in  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ^5 

brains  of  the  few  wise  men,  was  not  a  fit  companion  for  any 
reasonable  being  !  with  which  appalling  words,  exit  Fichte. 
Schelling's  mission  was  to  proclaim  the  living,  tuneful  voice 
of  Nature,  and  to  teach  that  she  was  animated  by  a  higher 
principle  than  material  existence.  Fichte  viewed  the  uni- 
verse as  a  mere  logical  process  in  the  Divine  mind. 

On  Goethe's  character :  the  more  Sterling  examines,  the 
less  he  believes  in  his  having  wilfully  trifled  with  the  feelings 
of  women  ;  with  regard  to  his  selfishness,  he  holds  that  he  did 
but  give  the  fullest,  freest  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  gift, 
and,  as  we  are  the  gainers  thereby,  he  cannot  call  it  selfish- 
ness. On  Carlyle  and  their  recent  expedition  together  to 
Hampton  Court :  Carlyle  was  in  gloomy  humor  and  finding 
fault  with  everything,  therefore  Sterling  defended  with  equal 
universality.  At  last  Carlyle  shook  his  head  and  pronounced, 
"Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion."  Sterling  was  re- 
minded of  a  poem  which  Goethe  has  translated,  which  intro- 
duces the  carcase  of  a  dead  dog,  which  one  after  another 
approaches,  expressing  disgust  at  the  smell,  the  appearance, 
etc.;  at  last  Christ  passes,  looks  on  it,  and  says,  "What 
beautiful  white  teeth  it  has  !" 

July  14. — Tea  at  the  Sterlings'.  I  did  not  notice  in  its 
right  place  the  admirable  living  sketch  of  Carlyle  which  Mrs. 
Carlyle  told  Sterling  of,  saying  it  was  the  best  that  had  been 
done,  and  that  she  thought  the  artist,  Samuel  Laurence, 
meant  to  give  it  her.  Sterling  went  to  Laurence,  found  that 
he  had  no  such  intention,  bought  it,  and  with  much  triumph 
displayed  it  to  the  lady.  It  is  a  thoroughly  satisfactory 
portrait. 

July  21. — Visit  to  the  Sterlings'  ;  he  was  strong  against  the 
confusions  and  misconstructions  prevalent  on  all  modes  of 
philosophy,  and  thinks  that  practical  subjects  should  be 
studied  unless  there  is  an  irrepressible  tendency  towards  the 
abstract,  otherwise  endless  and  dangerous  confusion  generally 
results.  He  is  devouring  the  new  and  greatly  improved 
edition  of  Maurice,  whose  notion  of  Quakerism  is  that  it  is 
all  included  in  the  belief  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 

1 6* 


!86  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

therefore  that  George  Fox  mistook  his  calling  when  he  sepa- 
rated himself  and  followers  into  a  sect.  Sterling  would  fain 
abolish  all  sects,  and  desires  that  all  might  concentrate  their 
light  into  one  pure  crystal.  But  I  fear  that  this  crystal  will 
never  be  discovered  but  in  Utopia  or — heaven. 

July  27. — John  Sterling  is  interesting  himself  much  about 
George  Fox,  whose  life  he  means  to  write.  He  sadly  misses 
his  earnest,  prophetic  spirit  in  the  present  day,  and  thinks 
Carlyle  the  only  one  who  at  all  represents  it.  He  read  us  a 
grievous  letter  from  the  latter,  complaining  of  finding  great 
difficulty  in  doing  his  work,  "  his  right  hand  having  forgotten 
her  cunning."  The  American  regenerator  of  his  species,  of 
whom  he  talked  to  us,  has  been  with  him ;  he  finds  that  his 
nostrum  for  the  ills  of  life  is  a  simple  agricultural  life  and  a 
vegetable  diet.  They  had  him  at  their  house,  gave  him  vari- 
ous strange  accommodating  dishes,  but,  as  he  could  not  make 
Carlyle  a  believer  in  vegetables,  he  left  him  in  despair. 
Speaking  of  the  old  Puritan  preachers,  Carlyle  comments  on 
the  excessive  fun  which  bursts  out  even  in  their  sermons,  and 
says  that  he  believes  all  really  great  men  were  great  laughers 
too,  and  that  those  who  have  the  gravest  capacity  in  them 
have  also  the  greatest  fun  ;  therefore  he  cordially  hails  a 
hearty  guffaw  even  from  a  Puritan  pulpit. 

July  28. — Sterling,  commenting  on  some  essays  by  a  clever 
young  man  of  twenty,  and  finding  a  want  of  solidity  in  them, 
remarked,  "  Why,  I  was  once  a  clever  young  man  of  twenty, 
and  I  know  the  quantity  of  inefficient  thought  which  possesses 
you  at  that  age.  Not  that  any  true  effort  at  thought  is  use- 
less, though  you  have  often  to  think  yourself  out  of  it  again. 
You  frequently  come  to  your  original  position,  but  on  princi. 
pies  how  different  from  what  before  possessed  you  !" 

August  3. — John  Sterling  and  Samuel  Gurney  were  talking 
over  Quaker  peculiarities  of  language,  S.  Gurney  going  to  the 
derivation  of  words  to  prove  that  truth  was  our  object.  Ster- 
ling entirely  agreed  with  him,  but  remarked,  "You  see,  we 
have  but  lately  been  required  to  weigh  sovereigns,  which  most 
people  think  of  much  greater  importance  than  words." 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ^7 

August  22. — Sterling  has  finished  George  Fox's  Journal, 
which  has  interested  him  much,  though  he  does  not  find  it  as 
remarkable  as  he  had  expected, — less  originality  and  out- 
flashing  of  the  man's  peculiar  nature.  He  is  greatly  amused 
at  Fox's  placid  conviction  that  he  has  never  committed  a 
fault  or  made  a  mistake  ;  also  his  undoubting  belief  in  the 
most  astounding  judgments  pronounced  and  executed  around 
him  on  his  account.  Thus:  "A  judge  treated  me  very 
cruelly ;  accordingly  God  smote  him  with  a  fever,  so  that  he 
died  the  next  day!" 

September  4. — Saw  John  Sterling  :  he  has  heard  from  Car- 
lyle,  who  has  been  greatly  interested  by  two  interviews  with 
Professor  Owen,  from  whom,  he  says,  he  has  learned  more 
than  from  almost  any  other  man.  He  is  charmed  by  his  nat- 
uralness, and  the  simplicity  he  has  preserved  in  a  London 
atmosphere. 

September  16. — Floated  in  the  harbor  with  the  Sterlings,  a 
very  calm,  thoughtful,  and  merry  opportunity,  as  fancy  led  us. 
Books  and  men  engaged  us  more  to-day  than  angels  or  specu- 
lations. Sterling  is  truly  an  invaluable  person  to  consult  on 
any  literary  or  logical  difficulties,  and  his  ready  friendship 
seems  really  rejoiced  to  be  able  to  help  any  who  desire  it  in 
earnest.  He  read  us  some  admirable  letters  from  Carlyle, 
who  has  just  been  making  a  pilgrimage  to  Ely,  and  enjoyed 
the  music  in  the  cathedral  so  as  to  wish  it  might  always  last, 
and  whenever  the  spirit  of  worship  inspired  one,  he  might  go 
in  there  and  worship  with  congenial  tones  from  invisible 
sources.  He  smoked  a  pipe  sitting  on  Cromwell's  horse- 
block, and  felt  it  a  sort  of  acme  in  possible  human  positions. 

John  Sterling  rather  impertinently  compared  Stanfield's 
coloring  to  a  literary  Quakeress,  all  drab  and  blue  ! 

September  27. — This  morning  Sterling  gave  a  capital  sketch 
of  Carlyle.  The  occasion  of  his  first  publishing  was  this. 
Edward  Irving  was  requested  by  the  editor  of  the  "Gentle- 
man's Magazine"  to  contribute  an  article;  he  looked  into 
the  magazine  and  discovered  in  one  of  the  papers  the  expres- 
sion, "  Good  God  !"  This,  he  said,  must  prevent  his  having 


1 88  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

anything  to  do  with  it,  but  he  had  a  friend  not  so  scrupulous, 
who  would  be  glad  to  send  a  paper  and  was  well  qualified  for 
it.  This  friend  was  Thomas  Carlyle,  who  continued  in  con- 
nection with  this  magazine  (in  which  the  "Essays  of  Elia" 
first  appeared)  until  Jeffrey  induced  him  to  write  for  the 
"Edinburgh,"  where  his  "Life  of  Schiller"  first  made  him 
notorious.  Sterling  read  these  papers  with  the  strongest  in- 
terest, which  he  once  expressed  in  the  presence  of  Charles 
Buller.  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "he  was  a  tutor  of  ours;"  and  from 
that  time  Buller  got  prettily  pumped  for  information  concern- 
ing this  said  tutor  of  theirs. 

October  4. — At  the  Falmouth  Polytechnic ;  met  Anthony 
Froude,  who  was  thoughtful,  speculative,  and  agreeable.  He 
was  interesting  in  analyzing  character.  From  Sterling's  hand- 
writing he  calls  him  enthusiastic  but  not  sanguine,  rather 
desponding ;  an  amazing  flow  of  ideas  and  great  choice  of 
language.  Defined  affectation  as  an  attempt  to  seem.  Thus 
the  high  are  as  affected  in  imitating  the  low,  as  the  low  in 
aping  the  high.  On  the  study  of  history :  he  is  as  delighted 
with  Arnold  as  I  am ;  on  his  remarking  to  Dr.  Pusey  on  the 
beauty  of  Arnold's  comparing  the  Church  and  State  to  the 
soul  and  body,  Pusey  quietly  but  most  solemnly  said,  "I 
consider  the  Church  belongs  to  a  much  higher  Body." 

October  10. — Sterling  has  been  told  that  in  person  he  re- 
sembles Metternich,  however  little  in  the  talent  of  getting  on 
in  the  world,  "  possibly  because  I  have  never  tried  to  get  on." 
Talked  of  our  responsibility  in  the  guidance  of  ourselves ;  of 
living  in  inward  and  outward  consistency  with  such. light  as 
has  dawned  upon  us;  not  attempting,  like  the  foolish  virgins, 
to  walk  by  the  lamps  of  any  companions,  however  wise,  if 
God  has  intrusted  us  with  lamps  of  our  own.  On  the  entire 
self-sacrifice  which  is  due  to  Truth :  fearful  is  the  wrench 
which  must  be  endured  in  the  separation  from  every  form  of 
falsehood,  but  if  you  can  stand  this,  glorious  will  be  the  re- 
ward in  light  and  confidence  of  spirit.  Sad  and  perplexing  is 
the  search,  and  often  vain,  for  the  wisest  man  of  your  time, 
whom  you  may  joyfully  accept  as  a  leader.  "But,"  I  ven- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  jgg 

tured  to  say,  "  rather  than  this  harassing  search  among  the 
multitude  of  conflicting  rays  which  show  but  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  tiny  light-beams,  would  it  not  be  wiser,  in  simplicity 
and  faith,  to  direct  the  earnest  gaze  upward,  where  all  rays 
of  light  converge  in  one  glorious  focus,  and  inward,  if  one 
ray  is  permitted  to  shine  there  to  guide  the  teachable  spirit 
through  this  misty,  half-developed  chaos  of  a  world  ?" 

Herman  Merivale  has  been  at  Falmouth  and  spent  some 
time  with  Sterling;  he  has  a  clever  head  and  much  good 
sense. 

October  14. — Sterling  told  us  of  General  Wolfe;  when  with 
a  small  party  awaiting  some  final  arrangements  for  attacking 
Quebec,  he  said  to  them,  "  We  may  as  well  read  a  MS.  poem 
I  have  just  received  from  England,"  and,  taking  Gray's 
"Elegy"  out  of  his  pocket,  read  it  aloud  to  them,  slowly 
and  with  deep  feeling.  On  concluding,  he  said,  "I  had 
rather  have  written  that,  than  take  Quebec." 

October  16. — A.  B.  went  with  us  to  see  some  of  the  old 
women ;  he  rather  shrank  from  it  on  the  ground  of  not  being 
a  clergyman,  but  was  reassured  by  Sterling  reminding  him 
that  St.  Paul  was  not  a  clergyman  either. 

October  17. — A  discussion  between  William  Edward  Forster 
and  Sterling  on  the  purity  of  motive  in  martyrdom, — whether 
any  would  yield  his  life  for  the  sake  of  an  abstract  moral 
truth,  if  there  were  no  prospect  of  reward  or  punishment  in 
the  background.  Sterling  said,  "Life  would  not  be  worth 
living  without  such  a  faith  in  the  entire  devotion  to  Truth 
being  experienced  by  some  high  minds."  Both  parties  ar- 
gued well,  and  it  was  continued  for  the  evening,  William 
admitting  that  all  actual  martyrs  were  probably  actuated  by 
both  motives,  and  that  in  this,  as  in  most  cases,  a  mixed 
theory  was  the  true  one.  Sterling  was  pointing  out  many 
things  that  were  to  be  remembered  when  in  St.  .Peter's. 
"What  is  to  be  forgotten?"  asked  I.  "Nothing  but  your- 
self," he  answered. 

November  4. — Carlyle  writes  complaining  of  the  mighty 
dust-mountain  which  he  has  to  dig  into,  as  yet  with  little 


IQO 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


.result,  in  his  Cromwellian  researches.  Laments  the  death  of 
Allan  Cunningham,  as  one  face  that  has  ever  looked  kindly 
on  him  and  will  look  on  him  no  more, — "a  loss,"  Sterling 
says,  "  which  he  can  little  afford,  such  is  the  warmth  and  ex- 
clusiveness  of  his  affection."  Anna  Maria  heard  also  in  the 
evening  from  Mrs.  Carlyle,  who  thanks  her  for  a  copy  of 
Laurence's  portrait  of  her  husband.  She  speaks  of  her  hus- 
band's present  subject  being  a  particularly  toilsome  one,  if 
you  may  judge  from  the  spluttering  he  makes ;  he  is  trying 
whether  some  teeth  and  a  shin-bone  dug  up  from  the  field  of 
Naseby  may  not  inspire  him. 

November  14. — Note  from  Carlyle  begging  Sterling  to  make 
inquiries  about  the  miner  at  Caridon*  who  so  heroically  de- 
voted himself  to  the  saving  of  his  comrade,  and  suggesting 
whether  anything,  and  what  sort  of  thing,  might  be  done  for 
him.  "At  all  events,"  he  says,  "  let  me  know  whether  there 
is  one  other  such  true  brave  workman  living  and  working  with 
me  at  this  time  on  this  earth ;  there  is  help  and  profit  in  being 
sure  of  that." 

November  19. — Heard  that  the  Caridon  miner  Verran  is 
saving  up  his  money  till  he  has  got  thirty  or  forty  pounds,  in 
order  to  leave  off  work  and  get  six  months'  learning, — a  good 
fact. 

December  17. — John  Sterling  brought  a  letter  from  Car- 
lyle, written  in  the  spirit  of  his  "Essay  on  Burns,"  together 
with  the  following  petition  : 

"To  Michael  Verran,  seemingly  a  right  brave  man,  and 
highly  worthy  of  being  educated,  these  small  gifts  of  money, 
if  they  can  assist  him  therein,  are,  with  all  hopefulness  and 
good  regard,  presented  by  certain  undersigned  fellow-way- 
farers and  warfarers  of  his." 

In  his  letter  to  Sterling  he  says, — 

"  This  man  Verran  is  evidently  a  hopeful  person ;  one  of 
those  rare  human  beings  whom  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  help. 

*  For  the  story  of  this  miner  see  Carlyle's  "  Life  of  Sterling,"  chap.  iii.  pp. 
2^4,  265. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  191 

Decidedly  he  ought  to  be  tried  to  a  certain  extent.  In  what 
way,  with  what  precautions,  pre-inquiries,  etc.,  I  will  leave 
you  and  our  benevolent  Friends  altogether  to  decide.  A  sum 
of  forty  or  fifty  pounds  to  aid  him  in  his  noble  purpose  of 
schooling  himself  might  at  any  rate  be  useful.  I  put  down 
my  sovereign  on  the  adjoined  leaf  (the  post-office  order  goes 
along  with  it) ;  do  you  and  other  kind  men  add  what  more 
you  can  in  the  shape  of  money  or  of  better  than  money :  my 
poor  faculty  in  regard  to  the  matter  is  as  good  as  out.  But 
just  men  beholding  such  a  thing  are  bound  to  acknowledge 
it,  to  cherish  it,  and  the  like  of  it,  as  heaven's  sacred  fire  on 
the  altar  of  this  our  common  earth,  not  too  copiously  supplied 
with  fire  at  present !  I  have  rarely  fallen  in  with  a  more  as- 
sistable-looking  man  than  this  same  most  meritorious  Verran. 
Tell  the  Misses  Fox  that  I  specially  recommend  him  to  them. 
Tell  all  people  that  a  man  of  this  kind  ought  to  be  hatched, — 
that  it  were  shameful  to  eat  him  as  a  breakfast  egg  !  And  so 
heaven  prosper  him  and  you,  and  all  the  benefactors  he  can 
find ;  and  may  some  blessing  come  out  of  this  inquiry,  and 
not  a  curse  to  any  one." 

December  22. — Barclay  had  a  letter  from  J.  S.  Mill :  he 
speaks  of  his  growing  conviction  that  individual  regeneration 
must  precede  social  progress,  and  in  the  mean  time  he  feels 
that  the  best  work  he  can  do  is  to  perfect  his  book  on  Logic, 
so  as  to  aid  in  giving  solidity  and  definiteness  to  the  workings 
of  others. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
1843. 

"  Dreams,  books,  are  each  a  world ;  and  books,  we  know, 

Are  a  substantial  world,  both  pure  and  good  : 
Round  these,  with  tendrils  strong  as  flesh  and  blood, 

Our  pastime  and  our  happiness  will  grow." — WORDSWORTH. 

Falmouth,  January  6. — I  was  made  somewhat  conceited  this 
morning  by  a  kind  note  from  Thomas  Carlyle.  He  makes 
amusing  reference  to  my  saying  "  thou"  to  him,  and  threatens 
to  say  "thou"  to  me  too,  but  must  not  venture  at  present. 
Speaking  of  Verran,  he  says,  "  We  are  not  to  neglect  such 
when  they  offer  themselves  among  the  half  or  wholly  useless 
things  so  enormously  copious  among  us." 

January  9. — Another  characteristic  note  from  Carlyle : 

"  DEAR  CAROLINE, — Thanks  for  your  excellent  news.  We 
will  not  scold  the  poor  fellow  much,  at  least  not  till  he  get 
fully  well  again.  As  to  the  Hero  Verran,  I  wish  you  to  under- 
stand that,  at  such  a  distance,  and  with  such  friends'  eyes 
close  on  the  very  scene,  I  cannot  presume  to  form  any  farther 
judgment  of  his  interests,  but  will  leave  them  altogether  to 
the  eyes  and  hearts  of  said  friends.  Do,  therefore,  what 
seems  to  you  wisest.  Perhaps  if  there  be,  as  it  seems  there  is, 
in  Verran's  personal  neighborhood  a  good  discerning  man 
who  will  take  charge  of  this  twenty  pounds,  to  do  his  best 
therewith  for  the  poor  miner's  behoof,  it  will  be  wiser  in  sev- 
eral ways  to  give  it  up  to  that  man  at  once  and  for  altogether ; 
saying  merely,  '  Do  thy  best  with  it  for  him.'  Verran  may 
thus  gain  another  friend  and  occasional  guide  and  patron, 
which  may  be  worth  more  to  him  than  several  guineas. 
'  Twenty,'  I  think,  is  no  bad  result.  To  find  twenty  persons, 
in  any  locality,  who  reverence  worth  to  the  extent  of  paying 
192 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I93 

one  pound  sterling  to  it,  is  verily  something  in  these  days. 
Days  (as  I  sometimes  feel,  when  I  reflect  sorrowfully  on  them) 
altogether  unexampled  since  the  creation  of  the  world  in  that 
respect !  Even  the  fickle  Athenians  did  at  least  put  Socrates 
to  death,  had  at  least  the  grace  to  hate  him,  did  not  merely 
seek  to  amuse  themselves  with  him  !  It  is  unutterable,  and 
will  lead  to  conclusions  by  and  by. 

"Meanwhile,  what  the  good  Caroline  has  to  do  is  happily 
utterable  enough  ;  not  abstruse  or  fearful  at  all !  What  I  have 
to  do  is  also,  alas !  too  plain  :  namely,  to  go  about  my  busi- 
ness, and,  with  many  wishes  and  salutations,  vanish,  as  one 
in  haste  and  double  haste, — subscribing  myself  cordially,  once 
more  Caroline's  friend,  T.  CARLYLE." 

January  21. — Fanny  Allen  sends  a  very  interesting  account 
of  a  visit  she  and  her  father  paid  to  Michael  Verran.  He  is 
a  thorough  Methodist,  who  sometimes  feels  so  full  of  joy  that 
his  skin  seems  too  small  for  him,  and  he  is  obliged  to  lie  down 
and  pray  that  he  may  be  enlarged,  to  make  room  for  his 
bursting  happiness.  He  gave  a  simple,  quiet  account  of  the 
Caridon  affair,  during  which,  it  seems,  his  mind  was  so  full 
of  the  prospect  of  being  so  soon  with  his  Saviour,  that  the 
idea  of  death  and  its  suffering  hardly  occurred  to  him ;  and 
on  coming  to  the  surface  he  fell  down  on  his  knees  in  the 
shed  and  "  gave  glory."  He  is  not  getting  on  very  brilliantly 
at  school,  but  is  steady  and  persevering,  and  means  to  be  a 
dairyman,  or  an  ore-dresser. 

February  3. — Aunt  Charles  Fox  told  us  of  an  American 
Friend  who  once  felt  a  concern  to  go  somewhere,  he  knew 
not  where.  He  ordered  his  gig,  his  servant  asking  where  he 
was  to  drive.  "Up  and  down  the  road,"  said  his  master. 
At  last  they  met  a  funeral.  "Follow  this  funeral,"  said  the 
master.  They  followed  in  the  procession  until  they  came  to 
the  church-yard.  Whilst  the  service  was  being  performed,  the 
Friend  sat  in  his  gig ;  at  its  conclusion  he  walked  to  the 
grave,  and  exclaimed,  solemnly,  "  The  person  now  buried  is 
innocent  of  the  crime  laid  to  her  charge  !"  and  then  returned 
i  17 


194 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


to  his  gig.  An  elderly  gentleman  in  deep  mourning  came  up 
to  him  in  great  agitation,  and  said,  "  Sir,  what  you  said  has 
surprised  me  very  much."  "  I  can't  help  it ;  I  can't  help  it," 
replied  the  other;  "I  only  said  what  I  was  obliged  to  say." 
"Well,"  said  the  mourner,  "the  person  just  buried  is  my 
wife,  who  for  some  years  has  lain  under  the  suspicion  of  infi- 
delity to  me.  No  one  else  knew  of  it,  and  on  her  death-bed 
she  again  protested  her  innocence,  and  said  that  if  I  would 
not  believe  her  then,  a  witness  to  it  would  be  raised  up  even 
at  her  grave-side !" 

February  9. — Sir  Edward  Belcher  dined  with  us  to-day,  and 
sailed  when  the  post  came  in.  He  has  a  high  appreciation  of 
papa's  dipping  needle.  He  talked  of  the  Pacific  Islanders  he 
has  visited  :  they  all  appear  to  have  a  common  origin,  and 
their  languages  to  be  derived  from,  and  very  analogous  to, 
Hebrew.  A  gentleman  who  understood  Hebrew  well  had  first 
a  Tahitian,  then  a  New  Zealander,  then  some  other  islander, 
brought  to  him,  and  understood  perfectly  what  each  said. 
Their  grammar  is  most  simple,  all  their  words  being  deduced 
from  the  nouns  and  verbs.  The  inhabitants  of  Raratongaare 
innocent  and  incorruptible  beyond  all  others.  The  Chinese 
never  take  an  oath,  but  their  most  solemn  promise  is  "  can 
secure."  They  keep  their  right  hands  as  "gentlemen,"  to 
do  no  work  but  grow  long  nails  and  write,  and  their  left  hands 
as  "  scrubs,"  to  do  all  the  dirty  work  and  shake  hands  with 
ignorant  Englishmen.  The  ladies  steep  their  nails  in  hot 
water  at  night,  and  then  twist  them  round  their  wrists,  and 
they  wear  little  silver  shields  to  preserve  them.  Sir  Edward 
has  been  rather  tried  at  having  to  publish  his  book  so  hastily, 
when  it  was  only  a  log  and  needed  much  revision  ;  but  he  was 
sent  forth  again  on  active  service  and  had  to  leave  it  in  charge 
of  a  committee.  He  gave  us  some  miserable  details  of  his 
observations  of  the  Chinese  War. 

February  n. — Strong  Methodist  letter  from  Michael  Ver- 
rah  ;  very  grateful  to  God  and  man.  Three  years  ago  he 
found  peace,  a  month  later  he  received  the  second  blessing, 
and  the  day  following  the  third  ;  his  path  is  now  like  that  of 


JOURNALS    OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  195 

the  just,  shining  brighter  and  brighter  to  the  perfect  day.  He 
finds  spelling  "  asier  than  at  first,  and  has  got  to  the  rule  of 
three  in  refimatic." 

February  20. — John  Sterling  has  been  reading  some  of 
Boswell,  and  is  interested  to  see  the  vague  distinction  which 
Johnson  makes  between  what  he  calls  physical  and  moral 
truths,  being  a  dim  attempt  at  a  classification  which  the  mod- 
erns have  much  more  happily  denominated  objective  and  sub- 
jective. But  even  this  is  very  loose  when  applied  to  individual 
character  :  the  most  you  can  say  is  that  objectivity  or  subjec- 
tivity is  the  predominating  element.  Men  are  not  generaliza- 
tions, and  resist  generalizing  as  the  eel  writhes  during  a  flaying 
operation,  on  which  the  operator  remarked,  "  Hang  it !  why 
can't  you  keep  quiet?"  Talked  on  early  histories  :  it  is  so 
interesting  to  compare  Genesis  and  Herodotus  as  two  infantile 
histories;  in  the  former  the  prophetic  element  vastly  pre- 
dominant, in  the  latter  the  imaginative.  He  says  that  Carlyle 
is  bringing  out  a  thirty-pounder  of  a  book  on  the  Northern 
troubles.* 

February  26. — Letter  from  Carlyle.  His  present  work  is 
one  that  makes  him  sad  and  sickly ;  it  is  likely  to  be  ready  in 
about  three  weeks,  and  then  he  expects  to  be  ready  for  the 
hospital.  He  says  that  John  Sterling  was  the  first  to  tell  him 
that  his  tendencies  were  political,  a  prophecy  which  he  feels 
is  now  being  strangely  verified.  Terrible  as  it  is  to  him  to 
pronounce  the  words  which  he  does,  he  feels  that  those  and 
no  others  are  given  him  to  speak  ;  he  sees  some  twenty  thou- 
sand in  pauper-Bastilles  looking  for  a  voice,  inarticulately  be- 
seeching, "  Speak  for  us  !"  and  can  he  be  silent  ?  His  book 
is  on  the  sorrows  in  the  North,  and  will  probably  consist  of 
the  facts  of  the  French  Revolution  connected  with  his  theory 
of  the  present  misgovernment^of  England. 

March  2. — Sterling  thinks  of  writing  an  essay  on  Shake- 
speare as  the  Son  of  his  Time,  which  would  develop  a  great 
deal  of  curious  matter  concerning  the  actual  life  around  him 

*"  Past  and  Present"  was  published  by  Carlyle  in  this  year. 


I96  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

which  may  be  gathered  from  his  plays.  He  feels  the  great  in- 
adequacy of  Shakespeare's  women.  Beatrice  is  very  disagree- 
able and  unpleasant,  Juliet  a  goose,  and  Lear's  two  daughters 
unnaturally  wicked.  Shakespeare  played  the  Ghost  in  "  Ham- 
let" and  the  Shepherd  in  the  "  Winter's  Tale"  himself.  He 
thinks  Tieck  the  purest  poet  of  the  present  day,  with  the  sub- 
tilest  discrimination  of  the  delicacies  in  women's  characters, 
— a  rare  achievement.  Lessing  was  no  poet,  almost  anti- 
poetical  :  the  plot  of  "  Nathan  the  Wise"  revolting. 

He  grieves  over  the  temporal  aim  of  the  masses;  "their 
desires  are  the  measure  of  their  powers,"  and  of  few  unat- 
tainable desires  are  they  conscious,  except  the  realizing  quite 
as  much  money  as  they  wish. 

March  9. — J.  S.  Mill's  book  arrived  yesterday, — "A  Sys- 
tem of  Logic."  I  read  the  chapter  on  Liberty  and  Necessity. 
Sterling  spoke  of  the  gradual  development  which  he  had 
watched  in  him.  He  has  made  the  sacrifice  of  being  the  un- 
doubted leader  of  a  powerful  party  for  the  higher  glory  of 
being  a  private  in  the  army  of  Truth,  ready  to  storm  any  of 
the  strong  places  of  Falsehood,  even  if  defended  by  his  late 
adherents.  He  was  brought  up  in  the  belief  that  politics  and 
social  institutions  were  everything,  but  he  has  been  gradually 
delivered  from  this  outwardness,  and  feels  now  clearly  that  in- 
dividual reform  must  be  the  groundwork  of  social  progress. 
Sterling  thinks  that  Mill's  book  will  induce  some  to  believe 
in  the  existence  of  certain  elements  in  human  nature,  such  as 
reverence,  to  which  they  have  nothing  answering  in  their  own 
consciousness. 

March  24. — Sterling  talked  about  the  men  he  has  seen  in 
his  visit  to  London. — Carlyle  very  unhappy  about  the  times, 
thinking  everything  as  bad  as  ever  and  conducted  on  the  least 
happiness  for  the  greatest  number  principle;  the  only  thing 
good  is  that  people  are  made  to  feel  unhappy,  and  so  prove 
that  enjoyment  is  not  the  object  of  life.  His  book  is  now 
being  copied,  and  is  to  be  printed  simultaneously  in  England 
and  America,  so  that  he,  being  the  prophet  to  both  lands, 
may  receive  the  profits  from  both.  With  Julius  Hare  he  had 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  ig-j 

uniting  intercourse,  and  it  was  particularly  interesting  after 
their  long  separation  to  see  how  much  common  ground  they 
still  had  to  walk  and  love  upon.  He  gave  him  Tieck's  last 
book,  which  he  thinks  shows  more  genius  than  anything  lately 
published.  Maurice  finds  fault  with  Mill's  book  as  only  at- 
tempting a  logic  of  propositions,  leaving  the  higher  logic  of 
ideas  to  the  ontologists :  this  Sterling  does  not  think  a  fair 
criticism,  as  none  of  these  worthy  ontologists  have  given  the 
least  sketch  of  such  a  logic.  Hegel's  book  is  directed  to  this 
end.  Tieck  told  Julius  Hare  that  he  admired  the  scene  with 
Wrangel  more  than  any  part  of  "  Wallenstein,"  Schiller  hav- 
ing there  succeeded  in  representing  a  concrete  reality. 

March  29. — The  Rabbi's  wife  told  me  that  all  her  uncles 
and  aunts  are  deaf;  they  may  scream  as  loud  as  they  like  in 
their  uncle  Jacob's  ear,  to  no  purpose,  but  by  addressing  his 
nose  he  becomes  quite  accessible :  an  aunt's  mode  of  ap- 
proach is  her  teeth.* 

March  31. — Sterling  talked  this  morning  about  the  Apoca- 
lypse, which  he  believes  refers  principally  to  pagan  Rome, 
and  the  actual  life  which  the  apostle  saw  around  him,  and 
which  he  felt  must  be  denounced  and  punished  by  a  God  of 
holiness  and  truth.  This  he  believes  to  be  the  feeling  of  all 
the  prophecies. 

April  13. — Julius  Hare  writes  that  the  King  of  Prussia  has 
feeling  enough  to  be  delighted  with  Tieck's  last  book.  He 
got  him  to  Berlin  some  time  since,  and  on  occasion  of  a 
court  picnic  at  a  certain  mill  there  were  only  two  chairs  to  be 
had ;  the  king  placed  his  queen  on  one,  and  invited  Tieck  to 
the  other,  throwing  himself  on  the  grass  at  the  queen's  feet. 

May  3. — After  dinner  I  was  writing  to  Aunt  Charles,  and 
on  running  up-stairs  for  more  paper  I  was  startled  to  find  my- 
self spitting  blood.  It  proved  to  be  only  from  the  throat, 
but  I,  for  half  an  hour,  took  it  entirely  as  a  signal  of  death, 
and  shall,  I  believe,  often  look  back  with  satisfaction  to  the 


*  This  appears  to  be  now  well  known,  and  is  commonly  practised  by  the  use 
of  the  audiphone. 

I7* 


198  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

solemn  quietness  which  I  felt  at  that  time.  I  finished  Aunt 
Charles's  note,  and  then  lay  down  alone,  and  felt  altogether 
rather  idle  about  life,  and  much  disposed  to  be  thankful,  or  at 
any  rate  entirely  submissive,  whatever  rnight  be  the  result. 

May  6. — Called  on  the  W.  M s.  He  is  threatened 

with  total  blindness,  and  his  excellent  wife  is  learning  to  work 
in  the  dark  in-  preparation  for  a  darkened  chamber.  What 
things  wives  are  !  What  a  spirit  of  joyous  suffering,  confi- 
dence, and  love  was  incarnated  in  Eve !  'Tis  a  pity  they 
should  eat  apples. 

May  10. — Sterling  has  been  reading  Niebuhr  lately  with 
great  interest,  and  comparing  him  antithetically  with  Gibbon  : 
their  different  modes  of  estimating  Christianity  are  very  re- 
markable. 

May  25. — John  Sterling  wandered  out  and  dined  with  us ; 
he  was  calm  and  sad,  and  feels  the  idea  of  leaving  Falmouth. 
His  London  time  was  an  extremely  bustling  one.  Carlyle 
does  not  seem  quite  happy ;  though  he  has  blown  so  loud  a 
blast,  and  though  it  has  awakened  so  many  deep  echoes  in 
the  hearts  of  thoughtful  men,  there  are  other  trumpets  yet  to 
sound  before  Truth  can  get  itself  fully  recognized,  even  by 
those  who  have  gone  far.  Sterling  gives  a  very  bright  de- 
scription of  their  Isle  of  Wight  habitation ;  I  wish  it  may 
prove  the  land  of  promise  to  them. 

May  26. — Enjoyed  writing  to  L.  Crouch,  and  "got  into 
some  abstractions,  the  result  of  which  was  that  every  man  is 
his  own  devil, — i.e.,  a  rebellious  will  is  the  principle  of  evil  in 
each  of  us,  and  the  anarchy  produced  by  this  false  dominance 
is  the  cause  of  all  that  falseness  which  we  call  sin. 

May  29. — Sterling  dwelt  with  delight  on  Mrs.  Carlyle's 
character, — such  hearty  sympathy  in  the  background,  and 
.such  brilliant  talent  in  front:  if  it  were  merely  "eternal 
smart"  with  her,  it  would  be  very  tiresome,  but  she  is  a 
woman  as  well  as  a  clever  person.  She  and  her  husband, 
though  admiring  each  other  very  much,  do  not  in  all  things 
thoroughly  sympathize  :  he  does  not  pay  that  attention  to  little 
things  on  which  so  much  of  a  woman's  comfort  depends. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  I99 

May  30. — Sterling  dined  here,  and  gave  an  interesting 
critique  on  Goethe's  "Elective  Affinities,"  which  is  little 
understood  by  general  readers,  but  has  a  deep  moral  signifi- 
cance. He  went  off  in  the  rain  in  very  good  spirits,  looking 
quite  like  his  old  self. 

June  13. — I  had  the  luxury  of  a  solitary  evening  at  Grove 
Hill, — yet  not  solitary.  I  took  up  Emerson  again,  which  I 
had  not  read  in  for  many  months,  and  was  quite  startled  at 
the  deep  beauty  and  truth  that  is  in  him.  He  evidently 
writes  from  experience,  not  hearsay,  and  that  gives  the  earnest 
tone  which  must  awaken  echoes  in  every  heart  which  is  not 
limited  to  formulas:  even  though  much  which  he  says  may 
not  be  true  to  you,  yet  you  feel  that  to  him  it  is  Divine  Truth. 

June  14. — How  I  like  things  to  be  done  quietly  and  with- 
out fuss  !  It  is  the  fuss  and  bustle  principle,  which  must  pro- 
claim itself  until  it  is  hoarse,  that  wars  against  Truth  and 
heroism.  Let  Truth  be  done  in  silence  "  till  it  is  forced  to 
speak,"  and  then,  should  it  only  whisper,  all  those  whom  it 
may  concern  will  hear. 

June  18. — No  news  from  Barclay.  Well,  silence  is  doubt- 
less safe,  and  patience  is  good  for  us.  I  think  heaven  will 
bless  him,  but  how,  it  does  not  suit  me  even  to  wish :  I've  no 
notion  of  giving  hints  to  Providence. 

August  5. — Finished  that  wondrous  "Past  and  Present," 
and  felt  a  hearty  blessing  on  the  gifted  author  spring  up  in 
my  soul.  It  is  a  book  which  teaches  you  that  there  are  other 
months  besides  May,  but  that,  with  courage,  faith,  energy,  and 
constancy,  no  December  can  be  "impossible." 

August  14. — Schleiermacher  is  a  very  fine  fellow,  so  far  as 
I  can  yet  discern  ;  a  noble,  large-hearted,  courageous,  clear- 
sighted, thoughtful,  and  generous  Christian,  in  the  deepest  as 
well  as  the  popular  sense  of  the  term ;  a  nourishing  writer, 
whose  whole  reasoning  and  discerning  speak  irrefutably  to 
one's  own  holiest  convictions.  Then  what  knowledge  of 
human  nature  he  has  !  He  ferrets  out  our  high,  noble,  self- 
sacrificing  sins,  and  shows  no  more  mercy  to  them  than  to  the 
vulgar  fellows  which  smell  of  garlic. 


200  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

August  20. — Barclay  had  a  long  interview  yesterday  with 
Espartero,  the  ex-Regent  of  Spain.  He  has  just  had  to  escape 
from  a  rebellion  aided  by  France,  which  he  could  not  repress, 
and  now  resigns  himself  to  becoming  an  Englishman  until 
Spain  is  ready  for  him  again. 

August  21. — Tea  at  Trebah.  Aunt  Charles  sends  brilliant 
accounts  of  her  present  environment, — Hartley  Coleridge  on 
one  side,  Wordsworth  on  the  other.  She  says  the  latter  is 
very  sensible  and  simple  about  the  laureateship ;  he  speaks  of 
it  very  kindly,  but  has  quite  declined  doing  any  work  con- 
nected with  it  on  compulsion.  He  says  it  is  most  gratifying 
to  fill  the  same  station  that  Dryden  and  Southey  have  done. 

September 8. — Had  a  particularly  bright  evening  at  Trebah, 
Aunt  Charles  reading  us  many  of  Hartley  Coleridge's  about- 
to-be-published  poems,  some  of  exquisite  tone,  meaning,  and 
discriminating  pathos.  Went  to  Budock  church-yard.  Cap- 
tain Croke  has  such  a  pretty,  simple  epitaph  on  his  little  boy  : 
"  And  he  asked,  Who  gathered  this  flower  ?  And  the  gar- 
dener answered,  The  Master  !  And  his  fellow-servant  held 
his  peace." 

September  10. — Barclay  and  his  beloved  W.  E.  Forster 
cheered  our  day.  Barclay  showed  us  letters  from  a  book- 
seller in  London  to  F.  D.  Maurice,  which  exhibit  most  touch- 
ingly,  most  vividly,  most  truly,  the  struggle  of  doubt,  the 
turbulence  of  despair,  the  apathy  of  exhausted  effort,  so 
frightfully  general  among  the  mechanics  of  large  towns, — a 
something  which  tells  that  the  present  attempts  at  teaching 
do  not  meet  the  wants  of  the  time,  and  which  "shrieks  inar- 
ticulately enough,"  but  with  agony,  for  guidance,  and  for  a 
God-inspired  lesson  on  belief  and  duty. 

September  13. — Embarked  on  the  railroad  at  Bristol,  and 
reached  London  at  four  o'clock  ;  our  only  companion  was  a 
weary  young  man,  who  complained  of  this  tedious  mode  of 
travelling  ! 

Norwich,  September  18. — In  a  cottage  visit  this  morning,  a 
young  woman  told  us  that  her  father  was  nearly  converted, 
and  that  a  little  more  teaching  would  complete  the  business, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   POX.  2oi 

adding,  "  He  quite  believes  that  he  is  lost, — which,  of  course, 
is  a  great  consolation  to  the  old  man  !" 

September  21. — Called  at  the  palace  with  Anna  Gurney. 
Catherine  Stanley  said  the  bishop*  would  be  so  charmed,  and 
ran  down  for  liim.  He  is  as  active  as  usual.  He  was  very 
affectionate,  and  charged  Anna  to  use  her  endeavors  to  make 
us  follow  her  example  and  remain  in  Norfolk.  He  says  there 
is  no  chance  of  his  coming  into  Cornwall  unless  they  make 
him  Bishop  of  Exeter.  His  daughters  were  very  agreeable. 
Catherine  Stanley  talked  about  the  Maurices,  whom  she  much 
admires ;  also  of  John  Sterling,  whom  she  does  not  know, 
but  has  heard  so  much  of  through  her  brother  Arthur.  The 
bishop  talks,  darting  from  one  subject  to  another,  like  one 
impatient  of  delay,  amusing  and  pleasant  enough.  His  wife 
is  a  calm,  sensible,  practical  woman. 

Cramer,  September  24. — Our  first  visit  at  Northrepps  Hall, 
a  droll,  irregular,  unconventional-looking  place,  which  must 
have  had  some  share  in  shaping  the  character  of  its  inhabit- 
ants. ...  A  wild  horseback  party  of  eleven,  with  Sir  Fowell 
Buxton  at  our  head,  scampering  over  everything  in  tremen- 
dous rain,  which  only  increased  the  animation  of  our  party. 
Then  dined  with  the  Buxtons.  Sir  Fowell  is  capital  now  and 
then,  but  not  at  all  to  be  depended  upon  as  a  man  of  society. 
Most  pleasant  intercourse  with  the  family,  individually  and 
collectively,  but  there  is  little  of  steady  conversation  to  record. 
Sir  Fowell  Buxton  has  never  recovered  his  old  tone  of  joyous 
mental  energy  since  the  failure  of  the  Niger  expedition,  and 
looked  sometimes  very  sad.  He  was  most  kind  and  affec- 
tionate to  us,  and  we  greatly  valued  being  with  him.  During 
the  night  a  storm  told  most  seriously  on  the  little  fishing- 
boats,  and  there  was  sad  loss  of  life.  In  his  prayer  the  next 
morning  this  affliction  was  most  beautifully  named,  and  the 
suffering  and  sorrowing  fervently  petitioned  for.  Lady  Bux- 
ton gave  us  each  a  prayer-book,  thinking  it  probable  that  no 

*  Stanley  (Edward),  late  Bishop  of  Norwich,  born  1796,  died  1849;  father 
of  the  late  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster. 


202  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

one  else  had  done  so.  He  likes  to  tell  absurd  stories  about 
her,  in  the  face  of  her  emphatic  protestations,  and  he  enjoys 
being  impertinently  treated  himself.  His  frolics  with  his 
grandchildren  are  charming. 

October  9. — Lieutenant  Hammond  dined  1iere.  He  was 
with  Captain  Fitz-Roy  on  the  "Beagle,"  and  feels  enthusias- 
tically towards  him.  As  an  instance  of  his  cool  courage  and 
self-possession,  he  mentioned  a  large  body  of  Fuegians,  with 
a  powerful  leader,  coming  out  with  raised  hatchets  to  oppose 
them :  Captain  Fitz-Roy  walked  up  to  the  leader,  took  his 
hatchet  out  of  his  hand,  and  patted  him  on  the  back :  this 
completely  subdued  his  followers. 

Norwich,  October  21. — Catherine  Gurney  gave  us  a  note  to 
George  Borrow,*  so  on  him  we  called, — a  tall,  ungainly,  un- 
couth man,  with  great  physical  strength,  a  quick  penetrating 
eye,  a  confident  manner,  and  a  disagreeable  tone  and  pro- 
nunciation. He  was  sitting  on  one  side  of  the  fire,  and  his 
old  mother  on  the  other.  His  spirits  always  sink  in  wet 
weather,  and  to-day  was  very  rainy,  but  he  was  courteous  and 
not  displeased  to  be  a  little  lionized,  for  his  delicacy  is  not 
of  the  most  susceptible.  He  talked  about  Spain  and  the 
Spaniards ;  the  lowest  classes  of  whom,  he  says,  are  the  only 
ones  worth  investigating,  the  upper  and  middle  class  being 
(with  exceptions,  of  course)  mean,  selfish,  and  proud  beyond 
description.  They  care  little  for  Roman  Catholicism,  and 
bear  faint  allegiance  to  the  Pope.  They  generally  lead  prof- 
ligate lives,  until  they  lose  all  energy,  and  then  become 
slavishly  superstitious.  He  said  a  curious  thing  of  the  Esqui- 
maux, namely,  that  their  language  is  a  most  complex  and 
highly  artificial  one,  calculated  to  express  the  most  delicate 
metaphysical  subtilties,  yet  they  have  no  literature,  nor  are 
there  any  traces  of  their  ever  having  had  one, — a  most 
curious  anomaly :  hence  he  simply  argues  that  you  can  ill 
judge  of  a  people  by  their  language. 

*  Borrow  (George),  born  near  Norwich,  1803,  author  of  "The  Zincali," 
"  The  Bible  in  Spain,"  "  Lavengro,"  "  Wild  Wales,"  and  other  works  ;  died 
1881. 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  203 

October  22. — Dined  with  Amelia  Opie :  she  was  in  great 
force  and  really  jolly.  Exhibited  her  gallery,  containing 
some  fine  portraits  by  her  husband,  one  being  of  her  old 
French  master,  which  she  insisted  on  Opie  painting  before 
she  would  accept  him.  She  is  enthusiastic  about  Father 
Mathew  ;  reads  Dickens  voraciously ;  takes  to  Carlyle,  but 
thinks  his  appearance  against  him  ;  talks  much  and  with  great 
spirit  of  people,  but  never  ill-naturedly. 

October  23. — Dined  very  pleasantly  at  the  palace.  The 
bishop  was  all  animation  and  good  humor,  but  too  unsettled 
to  leave  any  memorable  impression.  I  like  Mrs.  Stanley 
much, — a  shrewd,  sensible,  observing  woman.  She  told  me 
much  about  her  bishop ;  how  very  trying  his  position  was  on 
first  settling  at  Norwich,  for  his  predecessor  was  an  amiable, 
indolent  old  man,  who  let  things  take  their  course,  and  a  very 
bad  course  they  took,  all  which  the  present  man  has  to  cor- 
rect, as  way  opens,  and  continually  sacrifices  popularity  to  a 
sense  of  right. 

London,  October  30. — An  early  call  in  Cheyne  Row.  Jane 
Carlyle  was  very  brilliant,  dotting  off,  with  little  reserve, 
characters  and  circumstances  with  a  marvellous  perception  of 
what  was  really  significant  and  effective  in  them,  so  that  every 
word  told.  She  spoke  of  some  Americans  who  called  yester- 
day to  take  leave,  and  her  hand  got  such  a  squeeze  that  she 
almost  screamed,  "  for  all  my  rings  are  utilitarian  and  have 
seals."  She  says  that  Carlyle  has  to  take  a  journey  always 
after  writing  a  book,  and  then  gets  so  weary  with  knocking 
about  that  he  has  to  write  another  book  to  recover  from  it. 
When  the  books  are  done  they  know  little  or  nothing  of 
them,  but  she  judges  from  the  frequent  adoption  of  some  of 
his  phrases  in  books  of  the  day,  that  they  are  telling  in  the 
land. 

Met  John  Sterling  and  H.  Mill,  and  went  to  Professor 
Owen's,  where  W.  E.  Forster  and  Barclay  joined  us.  Here 
we  saw  the  great  bone — the  actual  bone — of  a  bird  which  a 
sailor  brought  to  Owen  from  Sydney,  and  out  of  which  he 
has  mentally  constructed  an  immense  ostrich.  And  we  saw 


204  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

the  series  of  vast  bottles,  each  filled  with  a  fixed  idea.  Ster- 
ling said  he  was  quite  awe-struck  at  the  thought  of  being  with 
a  man  who  knew  them  all  !  Owen  gave  us  a  little  lecture  on 
the  brain  :  that  when  it  is  much  worked  a  certain  portion  is 
actually  lost;  adding  that  "  StrafTord,"  he  supposed,  cost  its 
author  about  two  ounces.  He  and  Sterling  then  got  into  a 
delicate  little  discussion  upon  Dr.  Johnson's  taste  for  a  good 
hater.  Mrs.  Owen  supposed  that  differences  in  opinion 
would  be  settled  by  definition  ;  so  Sterling  defined  it  as  the 
sort  of  feeling  which  Owen  would  entertain  towards  Sir  Ever- 
ard  Home,  who  destroyed  John  Hunter's  papers ;  he  would 
not  do  him  any  harm,  but  he  would  not  go  out  of  his  way  to 
prevent  his  being  well  punished.  This  led  to  discussion  on 
the  wicked  waste  of  thought  which  Home  had  thus  com- 
mitted. Facts  and  results  of  positive  worth  iave  been  irre- 
vocably lost.  Sara  Coleridge  is  writing  a  defence  of  her 
father's  theology,  proving  how  very  orthodox  he  was  and  how 
well  he  deserved  to  be  the  pet  son  of  the  Church.  Sterling 
remarked  that  she  shows  the  limited  nature  of  a  woman's 
mind  in  her  "  Phantasmion  ;"  she  does  not  make  Ariel  an 
element,  but  the  whole  thing  is  Ariel,  and  therefore  very 
wearisome  and  unsubstantial. 


CHAPTER   X. 
1844. 

"  A  pard-like  spirit,  beautiful  and  swift." — SHELLEY. 

Falmouth,  January  9. — Fanny  Allen  sends  a  glorious  letter 
from  Verran.  He  says,  "I  have  three  cows,  three  slip  pigs; 
I've  plenty  of  grass,  and  a  good  sale  for  butter  and  cream. 
I've  the  pleasure  to  tell  you  that  I've  also  got  a  wife,  and  my 
wedding-day  was  yesterday." 

Some  boys  tQ  dinner ;  interested  them  and  ourselves  with 
Dickens's  beautiful  human-hearted  "Christmas  Carol." 

January  12. — Finished  my  week's  work  at  the  infant  school, 
and  wrote  in  the  Visitors'  Report  Book  that,  as  many  eminent 
men  were  very  stupid  at  school,  there  was  every  hope  for  the 
sixty-three  there. 

January  16. — I  have  had  a  treat  in  the  following  kind 
letter  from  Carlyle : 

"  CHELSEA,  \$th  January,  1844. 

"  DEAR  Miss  CAROLINE, — Your  message  is  far  from  an  in- 
trusion ;  such  a  musical  little  voice  coming  out  of  the  remote 
West,  in  these  dull  days,  is  not  unwelcome  to  me,  is  rather 
apt  to  be  too  welcome  !  For  undue  praise  is  the  poison  of 
human  souls :  he  that  would  live  healthily,  let  him  learn  to 
go  along  entirely  without  praise.  Sincere  praises,  coming  in 
a  musical  voice  in  dull  times,  how  is  one  to  guard  against 
them  ? 

"  I  like  Verran's  picture  of  himself  somewhat  better  this 
time.  It  is  good  that  he  has  got  a  wife;  his  manner  of  an- 
nouncing that  great  fact,  too,  is  very  original  !  '  Four  cows, 
with  plenty  of  grass,  three  slip  pigs.'  What  are  slip  pigs? 
Pigs  that  have  slipt  or  left  their  dam,  and  now  feed  on  spoon- 

18  205 


206  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

meat  ?  All  these  things  are  good.  On  the  whole,  it  was 
a  benefit  to  lift  this  poor  man  out  of  the  dark  subterranean 
regions  into  the  upper  daylight,  to  the  sight  of  the  sky  and 
green  world.  But  it  was  not  I  mainly  ;  no,  it  was  another 
than  I.  The  poor  man,  if  well  let  alone,  I  think  will  now 
do  well.  Well  let  alone  :  it  is  an  invaluable  rule  in  many 
things, — apt  to  be  miserably  forgotten  in  the  case  of  Grace 
Darlings  and  such  like  ! 

"  By  the  by,  ought  not  you,  with  your  swift,  neat  pen,  to 
draw  up,  on  half  a  sheet  of  paper,  an  exact  narrative  of  this 
man's  act  of  heroism, — authentic,  exact  in  every  detail  of 
it, — and  reposit  it  in  some  safe  place  for  a  memorial  of  the 
same?  There  is  no  more  genuine  use  that  the  art  of  writing 
can  be  turned  to  than  the  like  of  this.  Think  of  it. 

""I  am  about  writing  upon  Oliver  Cromwell, — still  about  it ; 
for  the  thing  will  not  stir  from  the  spot,  let  me  shove  it  never 
so  desperately  !  It  approaches  the  impossible,  this  task  of 
mine,  more  nearly  than  any  task  I  ever  had.  How  awaken 
an  oblivious  world,  incognizant  of  Cromwells,  all  incredulous 
of  such  ?  how  resuscitate  a  Hero  sunk  under  the  disastrous 
wrecks  of  two  such  centuries  as  lie  dead  on  him  ? 

"  If  I  had  a  Fortunatus'  hat,  I  would  fly  into  deepest  silence, 
— perhaps  into  green  Cornwall  towards  the  Land's  End, — 
to  meditate  this  sad  problem  of  mine,  far  from  Babylon  and 
its  jarrings  and  its  discords  and  ugly  fog  and  mud,  in  sight 
of  the  mere  earth  and  sea,  and  the  sky  with  its  stars.  But  I 
have  not  such  a  hat,  there  is  none  such  going,  one  must  learn 
to  do  without  such. 

"Adieu,  dear  Miss  Caroline.  Salute  your  brother  in  my 
name, — your  brother  and  sister,  and  all  that  have  any  remem- 
brance of  me.  My  wife,  pretty  well  in  health,  sends  you  her 
kindest  regards. — I  remain,  ever  yours,  most  sicerely, 

T.  CARLYLE." 

February  7. — Eliza  Dunstan  died  to-day.  It  was  such  a 
child's  death-bed,  so  innocent,  so  unpretending.  She  loved 
to  hold  her  father's  hand,  he,  poor  fellow,  kneeling  by  her  in 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  207 

silent  agony.  She  thought  none  could  nurse  her  so  well  as 
father.  Her  spirit  was  most  tenderly  released.  It  is  a  won- 
derful thought,  that  sudden  total  change  of  hers.  Has  heaven 
its  infant  schools?  Who  can  tell? 

March  8. — Mr.  Dew  told  us  much  about  Dr.  Arnold,  one 
of  whose  pupils  he  was.  Such  was  his  power  over  the  hearts 
of  the  boys  that  they  dreaded  doing  anything  wrong,  lest  it 
should  pain  him  ;  they  looked  forward  to  his  weekly  sermons 
with  as  much  delight  as  to  a  holiday,  and,  as  they  were  quite 
private,  if  anything  remarkable  had  taken  place  in  the  week 
they  knew  that  it  would  be  noticed  on  the  Sunday.  The  class- 
books  they  had  to  study  were  rich  in  marginal  notes  from  his 
pencil,  which  made  them  live  and  become  a  pleasure,  instead 
of  a  weariness  to  flesh  and  spirit. 

March  n. — Mrs.  Carlyle  told  W.  E.  Forster  that  "Hy- 
perion" answered,  and  Longfellow  has  married  the  young 
lady  he  wrote  it  at.  Bon  ! 

April  2. — I  finished  "  Deerbrook"  with  much  regret.  It 
is  a  brave  book,  and  inspires  trust  and  love,  faith  in  its  ful- 
ness, resignation  in  its  meekness.  One  has  a  vicious  desire 
to  know  Miss  Martineau's  private  history. 

April  3. — On  reading  Nicoll's  "  Solar  System,"  papa  said 
that  light  only  comes  to  those  objects  capable  of  receiving  it. 
A  truth  purely  physical,  it  is  to  be  observed. 

April  8. — Read  a  letter  from  Harriet  Martineau,  describing 
the  irresistible  influence  under  which  she  uttered  her  "  Life 
in  the  Sick-Room,"  and  the  numerous  deeply  interesting  re- 
sponses and  echoes  it  has  awakened,  proving  how  much  such 
a  book  was  needed. 

London,  May  25. — Overtook  John  Mill  in  the  Strand,  and 
had  a  pleasant  little  chat  with  him  about  the  Francias  in  the 
National  Gallery,  which  he  cannot  forgive  for  their  hard  dry 
manner;  the  Guides  in  the  Dulvvich  Gallery,  he  thinks,  do 
not  deserve  Sterling's  criticisms,  though  he  heartily  agrees 
with  him  about  the  Carlo  Dolces. 

May  27. — Called  on  the  Carlyles.  He  was  poorly,  and 
asleep  on  the  sofa  when  we  went  in.  We  told  them  of  Bar- 


208  MEMORIES   OF   OLD  FRIENDS. 

clay's  engagement.  "  Well,  they  must  club  together  all  the 
good  sense  they've  got  between  them :  that's  the  way,  I  sup- 
pose," was  the  valediction  bestowed.  He  groaned  over  Oli- 
ver Cromwell,  for  his  progress  in  that  memorial  is  slow  and 
painful :  all  that  had  been  said  or  written  in  his  favor  was 
destroyed  or  ignored  when  Charles  II.  came  to  reign  ;  as  a 
Calvinistic  Christian  he  was  despised,  and  as  a  ruler  and  regi- 
cide he  was  hated  ;  the  people  would  not  forgive  him  for  hav- 
ing seemed  to  deceive  them,  and  so  they  dug  up  his  body  and 
hanged  it  at  Tyburn,  and  have  been  telling  the  most  abomi- 
nable lies  about  him  ever  since.  Lately  there  has  been  some 
better  feeling,  but  the  case  is  still  very  bad.  "Upon  the 
whole,"  he  added,  "  I  don't  believe  a  truer,  more  right- 
hearted  Englishman  than  Oliver  ever  existed.  Wherever  you 
find  a  line  of  his  own  writing  you  may  be  sure  to  find  noth- 
ing but  truth  there."  We  compared  his  principle  of  gov- 
erning to  Dr.  Francia's  in  Paraguay, — giving  the  people  a 
despotism  to  deliver  them  from  anarchy.  "  Why,  Francia 
was  a  very  small  man  compared  with  Oliver ;  his  idea  was  not 
a  high  one :  he  had  an  ignorant,  uncultivated  set  of  people 
to  put  right,  and  he  certainly  did  it  very  cleverly,  with  all  his 
mechanical  regulations;  but  he  was  a  very  different  man  to 
Oliver."  Mrs.  Carlyle  here  said,  "Why,  a  short  time  ago 
Francia  was  all  in  favor;  and  so  he  would  be  again  if  you  had 
but  a  little  contradiction  !"  Then,  speaking  of  the  wretched 
mistakes  which  different  ages  make  concerning  their  greatest, 
he  said,  "  Why,  the  Jews  took  Jesus  for  a  scoundrel,  and 
thought  all  they  could  do  with  him  was  to  nail  him  up  on  a 
galloWs.  Ah  !  that  was  a  bad  business  ;  and  so  he  has  re- 
turned to  heaven,  and  they  go  wandering  about  the  streets 
buying  old  clothes  !" 

Falmouth,  July  21. — The  following  lines  were  sent  me  by 
Sterling  to  put  in  our  copy  of  Schleiermacher's  "  Dialogues  :" 

"  This,  our  world,  with  all  its  changes, 

Pleases  me  so  much  the  more, 
That  wherever  Fancy  ranges 

There's  a  truth  unknown  before. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  2Og 

"  And  in  every  land  and  season, 

One  the  life  in  great  and  small ; 
This  is  Plato's  heavenly  Reason, 
Schleiermacher's  All-in-all. 

"  Head  and  heart  let  us  embrace  it, 

Seeking  not  the  falsely  new  : 
In  an  infant's  laugh  we  trace  it, 
Stars  reply,  Yea,  Life  is  true." 

We  were  delighted  to  watch  Uncle  Joshua  in  his  sweet  com- 
panionship with  nature ;  the  little  birds  are  now  so  intimate 
and  trustful  that  they  come  when  he  calls  them  and  eat  crumbs 
out  of  his  mouth.  It  is  a  charming  and  beautiful  sight. 

August  12. — Sir  Charles  Lemon  and  Lady  De  Dunstanville 
to  lunch.  Sir  Charles  has  been  with  Bunsen  lately,  and  both 
heartily  share  our  enthusiasm  about  Dr.  Arnold.  Sir  Charles 
says  he  is  a  man  whom  he  always  loved  and  valued  ;  how  sad 
it  was  that  his  friends  not  only  did  not  understand  but  would 
not  trust  him,  fancying  he  would  run  wild  on  politics  or  some- 
thing else. 

August  21. — Andrew  Brandram,  the  very  respectable  and 
respected  Secretary  of  the  Bible  Society,  appeared  before  us 
once  more  with  his  shaggy  eyebrows.  He  held  a  large  Bible 
meeting  here,  and  told  us  many  good  things.  There  is  a 
glimpse  of  an  opening  for  the  Bible  in  China,  which  it  will 
be  highly  interesting  to  watch.  In  India  tire  demand  and 
supply  is  most  satisfactory ;  about  fifty  years  ago  they  could 
not  find  a  Bible  in  Calcutta,  and  in  Madras  were  obliged  to 
swear  on  a  scrap  of  a  Prayer-Book  at  the  opening  of  a  court- 
martial.  In  New  Zealand  the  natives  held  a  council  before 
the  last  miserable  war,  when  one  of  them  entreated  the  rest 
to  "  Remember  the  Book,  remember  the  Book  :  it  tells  us  not 
to  fight;  so,  if  we  do,  mischief  must  come  of  it."  But  the 
majority  found  it  expedient  to  forget  it  as  completely  as  the 
English  had  done,  and  the  result  is  sad  matter  of  history. 
In  Belgium  the  same  Book  is  establishing  its  position  and 
producing  very  positive  effects;  in  fact,  the  state  of  things 
in  general  is  satisfactory ;  funds  increase,  openings  increase, 

1 8* 


210  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

oppositions  increase,  and  zeal  increases  in  an  equal  pro- 
portion. 

August  22. — Andrew  Brand  ram  gave  us  at  breakfast  many 
personal  recollections  of  curious  people.  J.  J.  Gurney  rec- 
ommended George  Borrow  to  their  committee  ;  so  he  stalked 
up  to  London,  and  they  gave  him  a  hymn  to  translate  into 
the  Manchoo  language,  and  the  same  to  one  of  their  own 
people  to  translate  also.  When  compared,  they  proved  to  be 
very  different.  When  put  before  their  reader,  he  had  the  can- 
dcor  to  say  that  Sorrow's  was  much  the  better  of  the  two.  On 
this  they  sent  him  to  St.  Petersburg  to  get  it  printed,  and 
then  gave  him  business  in  Portugal,  which  he  took  the  liberty 
greatly  to  extend,  and  to  do  such  good  as  occurred  to  his 
mind  in  a  highly  executive  manner. 

September  19. — We  are  told  of  Stephen  Grellet  once  preach- 
ing to  the  Friends  of  a  certain  meeting,  saying,  "You  are 
starched  before  you  are  washed." 

IVindermere,  September  28. — Hartley  Coleridge  came  to  us 
whilst  Anna  Maria  was  sketching  near  Fox  How,  and  talked 
of  Dr.  Arnold.  He  is  just  now  reading  his  "  Life  and  Let- 
ters" with  extreme  interest.  He  used  seldom  to  be  with  him 
in  his  mountain-rambles,  because  he  walked  always  so  far  and 
so  fast.  When  Hartley  Coleridge  was  at  college,  the  Rugby 
boys  were  proverbially  the  worst,  their  moral  training  had 
been  so  neglected  ;  but  now  Dr.  Arnold's  influence  has  re- 
formed not  only  that,  but  raised  the  tone  of  the  other  public 
schools. 

September  30. — Thought  much  on  those  stimulating  lines 
of  John  Sterling's  : 

"'  Tis  worth  a  wise  man's  best  of  life, 
'Tis  worth  a  thousand  years  of  strife, 
If  thou  canst  lessen  but  by  one 
The  countless  ills  beneath  the  sun." 

So  in  the  strength  of  this  feeling  we  helped  a  damsel  to  col- 
lect her  calves  and  drive  them  into  a  field. 

October  i. — Last  night,  in  a  dream,  we  were  looking  at 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  2il 

S.  T.  Coleridge's  letter  to  Lamb,  and  I  asked  him  what  it 
meant.     "  It  means  Life,  my  dear,"  he  said. 

We  floated  about  Windermere  with  Hartley  Coleridge.  It 
was  all  very,  very  beautiful.  Hartley  Coleridge  sparkled  away 
famously,  but  I  have  preserved  little.  He  showed  us  the  house 
where  Charles  Lloyd  lived,  and  where  he  with  Coleridge  and 
Lamb  used  to  dash  away  their  thoughts  and  fancies.  His  re- 
membrances of  Lloyd  were  truly  pathetic :  he  believes  that 
much  which  is  attributed  to  him  as  madness  was  simply  his 
own  horrible  imaginations,  which  he  would  regard  as  facts 
and  mention  to  others  as  things  which  he  had  himself  done. 
Query — Is  not  this  of  the  essence  of  madness  ?  His  wife  was 
one  of  the  best  of  women,  and  it  was  a  cruel  task  to  her  to 
give  hints  to  strangers  of  his  state,  which  she  often  had  to  do, 
in  order  that  injustice  might  not  be  done  him.  Tennyson 
he  knows  and  loves.  He  said,  "  My  sister  has  some  real 
power  ;  she  was  a  great  deal  with  my  father  during  the  latter 
years  of  his  life."  He  admires  her  "  Phantasmion,"  but 
wishes  it  cut  up  into  shorter  stories.  He  thinks  her  thor- 
oughly equal  to  her  subject  when  she  treats  of  Rationalism. 
He  is  a  most  affectionate  brother,  and  laments  her  weak,  over- 
done state  of  health.  He  hopes  to  bring  out  his  own  second 
volume  of  poems  this  year  or  next,  and  rejoices  to  hear  of 
any  who  sincerely  sympathize  with  them.  Speaking  of  the 
Arnolds,  he  said  they  are  a  most  gifted  family.  I  asked  what 
specially  in  their  education  distinguished  them.  He  rose 
from  the  dinner-table,  as  his  manner  is,  and  answered,  "  Why, 
they  were  suckled  on  Latin  and  weaned  upon  Greek."  He 
spoke  of  his  father  being  one  day  in  company  with  some  cele- 
brated man,  and  some  man  who  was  not  celebrated  ;  the  latter 
wore  leather  breeches,  and  S.  T.  Coleridge  had  the  delight 
of  observing  him  taking  notes  of  their  conversation  with  a 
pin  in  the  creases  of  the  leather  !  He  talked  of  his  own 
transmigrations,  and  his  ecclesiastical  antipathies,  and  his 
trials  of  school-keeping:  he  likes  teaching,  but  keeping  the 
boys  in  order  passes  his  powers ;  his  experience  convinces 
him  that  the  clever  boys  are  generally  the  best,  the  stupid 


212  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

ones  taking  refuge  in  cunning.  He  talked  of  Wordsworth 
with  high  respect,  but  no  enthusiasm  ;  his  last  published 
poems  were  composed  before  the  "  Peter  Bell"  era:  it  was  the 
world  in  its  chaotic  state,  and  the  thoughts  are  therefore  often 
large  and  shapeless,  like  the  mammoths  and  megatheriums  of 
nature.  The  reason  for  his  not  permitting  the  prologue  to 
the  "  Excursion"  to  be  published  till  after  his  death  is,  he  be- 
lieves, that  the  benefit  of  copyright  may  be  enjoyed  longer. 
He  talked  funnily  of  the  necessity  of  every  woman  having 
two  names,  one  for  youth  and  one  for  mature  age.  After  din- 
ner he  read  us  his  beautiful  "  Dancing  Nautilus,"  and  the 
"  Birthday  of  Mrs.  Blanchard,"  and  the  "  New  Year's  Ode," 
with  more  understanding  and  feeling  than  rhythmic  harmony, 
— at  least,  so  it  struck  me, — and  concluded  the  evening  with 
some  glorious  prose  passages  from  his  "  Biographia  Borealis," 
from  "  Roger  Ascham,"  a  sonorous  and  deep-seeing  summary 
of  the  thoughts  which  Lady  Jane  Grey  has  left  us  by  her  little 
life,  so  beautiful  and  sad,  and  from  his  "  William  Roscoe,"  in 
which  he  delivered  his  upright  independent  thoughts  on  the 
slave-trade  long  before  the  world  had  damned  it  as  a  sin. 
The  tender  impartiality  and  the  earnest  self-assertion,  the  lov- 
ing pity  for  those  who  are  not  ripe  for  Truth, — all  rounded  off 
into  a  holy  feeling  of  thankfulness  for  clearer  light, — deeply 
recalled  his  father's  noble  and  tender  lines  on  poor  Beren- 
garius. 

October  5. — We  wandered  forth  by  the  lake,  and  were  over- 
taken by  a  shower,  and  sheltered  ourselves  in  a  shed.  Hart- 
ley Coleridge  saw  us,  and  begged  us  to  come  into  his  cottage, 
— "  The  Knbbe,"  as  he  endeavors  to  have  it  spelt.  It  was  a 
snug  little  room,  well  furnished  with  books,  writing-affairs, 
and  MSS.  Anna  Maria  said,  in  answer  to  some  deprecatory 
remark  of  his,  "  One  might  be  very  happy  here."  "  Or  very 
miserable,"  he  answered,  with  such  a  sad  and  terrible  empha- 
sis. He  spoke  with  extreme  aversion  of  the  kind  of  letters 
he  has  to  write  to  his  own  family,  telling  the  state  of  his  ward- 
robe even.  When  he  writes,  he  likes  to  write  nonsense,  or 
anything  that  comes  uppermost ;  but  to  be  chained  to  a  sub- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  213 

ject,  and  that  subject  self,  and  to  treat  it  in  a  business-like 
manner,  is  intolerable.  He  has  a  copy  of  Sterling's  lines  on 
S.  T.  Coleridge,  and  admires  them  much.  He  read  aloud  to 
us  Sterling's  "  Lady  Jane  Grey."  Then  Anna  Maria  read  him 
Barclay's  lines  which  arrived  this  morning,  "  The  Brides- 
maids' Address  to  the  Bride."  He  admired  them  extremely, 
read  them  twice  to  himself  afterwards,  and  could  make  no 
suggestions.  The  shower  had  cleared  away,  so  we  had  no  ex- 
cuse for  staying,  though  there  was  much  opening  for  interest- 
ing and  sober  converse. 

October  6. — Anna  Maria  and  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  Words- 
worths.  He  was  in  great  force,  and  evidently  enjoyed  a  pa- 
tient audience.  He  wanted  to  know  how  we  came  from 
Cornwall,  which  naturally  brought  us  to  railroads  and  a  short 
lament  over  the  one  they  mean  to  introduce  here.  He  grieves 
that  the  ravens  and  eagles  should  be  disturbed  in  their  medi- 
tations, and  fears  that  their  endeavors  after  lyric  poetry  will 
be  checked.  However,  he  admits  that  railroads  and  all  the 
mechanical  achievements  of  this  day  are  doing  wonders  for 
the  next  generation  ;  indeed,  it  is  the  appropriate  work  of 
this  age  and  this  country,  and  it  is  doing  it  gloriously.  That 
anxious  money-getting  spirit  which  is  a  ruling  principle  in 
England,  and  a  passion  and  a  law  in  America,  is  doing  much 
by  exhausting  itself:  we  may  therefore  look  forward  with  hope- 
ful trust.  Nothing  excellent  or  remarkable  is  done  unless  the 
doer  lays  a  disproportionate  weight  on  the  importance  of  his 
own  peculiar  work  :  this  is  the  history  of  all  sects,  parties, 
cliques,  and  stock-jobbers  whatsoever. 

He  discoursed  on  the  utter  folly  of  sacrificing  health  to 
books.  No  book-knowledge  in  the  world  can  compensate 
you  for  such  a  loss;  nothing  can  excuse  your  trifling  with 
health  except  duty  to  God  or  to  your  neighbor.  All  that  is 
needful  is  to  understand  your  duty  to  God  and  to  your  neigh- 
bor, and  that  you  can  learn  from  your  Bible.  He  heard  with 
some  indignation  of  Aunt  Charles's  party  having  been  at  Kis- 
singen.  "  Why  don't  they  take  our  own  baths,  and  not  spend 
their  money  abroad  ?"  Then  we  asked  about  his  Solitary's 


214 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


Valley, — whether  it  had  a  real  or  only  a  poetical  existence  ? 
"  Why,  there  is  such  a  valley  as  I  have  described  in  that  book 
of  the  '  Excursion,1  and  there  I  took  the  liberty  of  placing 
the  Solitary."  He  gave  the  outline  of  a  beautiful  tour  for  us 
among  the  lakes,  and  assured  us  that  the  guides  would  not 
treat  us  to  passages  from  the  "  Excursion,"  as  they  probably 
did  not  know  of  the  existence  of  such  a  poem.  Told  him  of 
our  Wednesday  evening  readings  of  the  "  Excursion."  "I 
hope  you  felt  much  the  wiser  for  it  when  you  had  finished," 
he  said,  laughingly.  When  we  told  him  who  had  been  the 
genius  of  those  bright  starry  evenings,  he  said,  "John  Ster- 
ling !  Oh,  he  has  written  man  y'very  beautiful  poems  himself- 
some  of  them  I  greatly  admire.  How  is  he  now?  I  heard 
that  he  was  in  poor  health."  When  told,  "Dead  !"  he  ex- 
claimed, "That  is  a  loss  to  his  friends,  his  country,  and  his 
age.  A  man  of  such  learning  and  piety  !  So  he  is  gone, 
and  Bowles  and  Rogers  left,  who  are  so  much  older!"  and 
the  poor  old  man  seemed  really  affected.  He  said,  "  I  was 
just  going  to  have  sent  him  a  message  by  you  to  say  how 
much  I  had  been  admiring  his  poetry."  I  read  him  the  lines 
in  his  last  note, — 

"  Regent  of  poetic  mountains, 
Drawing  from  their  deepest  fountains 
Freshness,  pure  and  everlasting, 
Wordsworth,  dear  and  honored  name, 
O'er  thee  pause  the  stars,  forecasting 
Thine  imperishable  fame," — 

which  he  begged  me  to  transcribe  for  him. 

Wordsworth  then  spoke  of  having  written  to  Bowles  on 
the  death  of  his  wife,  and  found  that  his  sympathy  had  been 
very  welcome,  though  he  had  feared  that  it  would  be  all  con- 
fusion in  the  mind  of  the  imbecile  old  man.  It  was  Amy 
Fisher  who  encouraged  him  to  write.  Spoke  of  her  with 
enthusiasm :  after  what  she  wrote  when  a  child,  it  was  im- 
possible she  could  go  on  progressing ;  her  poetry  was  pure 
inspiration  showered  down  direct  from  heaven,  and  did  not 
admit  of  any  further  perfection.  She  is  a  very  modest, 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE    FOX.  215 

womanly  person,  not  allowing  herself  to  come  forward  in 
society,  nor  abandoning  herself  to  the  eloquence  of  which 
he  believes  her  very  capable.  Spoke  of  Archdeacon  Hare  as 
very  excellent  and  very  learned  ;  more  valued  by  Wordsworth 
for  his  classical  than  for  his  German  attainments.  Talked  of 
the  effect  of  German  literature  on  the  English  mind  ;  "  We 
must  wait  to  find  out  what  it  is ;  my  hope  is  that  the  good 
will  assimilate  itself  with  all  the  good  in  the  English  charac- 
ter, and  the  mischievous  element  will  pass  away  like  so  much 
else."  The  only  special  criticism  which  he  offered  on  Ger- 
man literature  was,  "  They  often  sacrifice  Truth  to  originality, 
and,  in  their  hurry  to  produce  new  and  startling  ideas,  do  not 
wait  to  weigh  their  worth.  When  they  have  exhausted  them- 
selves and  are  obliged  to  sit  down  and  think,  they  just  go 
back  to  the  former  thinkers,  and  thus  there  is  a  constant  revolu- 
tion without  their  being  quite  conscious  of  it.  Kant,  Schel- 
ling,  Fichte ;  Fichte,  Schelling,  Kant :  all  this  is  dreary 
work  and  does  not  denote  progress.  However,  they  have 
much  of  Plato  in  them,  and  for  this  I  respect  them :  the 
English,  with  their  devotion  to  Aristotle,  have  but  half  the 
truth ;  a  sound  Philosophy  must  contain  both  Plato  and  Aris- 
totle." He  talked  on  the  national  character  of  the  French 
and  their  equalizing  methods  of  education  :  "  It  is  all  formal, 
military,  conventional,  levelling,  encouraging  in  all  a  certain 
amount  of  talent,  but  cramping  the  finer  natures,  and  oblig- 
ing Guizot  and  the  few  other  men  of  real  genius  whom  God 
Almighty  is  too  good  to  leave  them  entirely  destitute  of,  to 
stoop  to  the  common  limits  and  teach  their  mouths  to  flatter 
and  conciliate  the  headstrong,  ardent,  unthinking  multitude 
of  ordinary  men,  who  dictate  to  France  through  the  journals 
which  they  edit.  There  is  little  of  large  stirring  life  in  poli- 
tics now;  all  is  conducted  for  some  small  immediate  ends; 
this  is  the  case  in  Germany  as  well  as  France.  Goethe  was 
amusing  himself  with  fine  fancies  when  his  country  was  in- 
vaded ;  how  unlike  Milton,  who  only  asked  himself  whether 
he  could  best  serve  his  country  as  a  soldier  or  a  statesman, 
and  decided  that  he  could  fight  no  better  than  others,  but  he 


2i 6  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

might  govern  them  better.  Schiller  had  far  more  heart  and 
ardor  than  Goethe,  and  would  not,  like  him,  have  professed 
indifference  to  theology  and  politics,  which  are  the  two  deep- 
est things  in  man, — indeed,  all  a  man  is  worth,  involving  duty 
to  God  and  to  man." 

He  took  us  to  his  terrace,  whence  the  view  is  delicious :  he 
said,  "  Without  those  autumn  tints  it  would  be  beautiful,  but 
with  them  it  is  exquisite."  It  had  been  a  wet  morning,  but 
the  landscape  was  then  coming  out  with  perfect  clearness. 
"It  is,"  he  said,  "like  the  human  heart  emerging  from  sor- 
row, shone  on  by  the  grace  of  God."  We  wondered  whether 
the  scenery  had  any  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  poorer  people. 
He  thinks  it  has,  though  they  don't  learn  to  express  it  irTneat 
phrases,  but  it  dwells  silently  within  them.  "  How  con- 
stantly mountains  are  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  the  scene 
of  extraordinary  events  !  the  law  was  given  on  a  mountain, 
Christ  was  transfigured  on  a  mountain,  and  on  a  mountain 
the  great  act  of  our  redemption  was  accomplished;  and  I 
cannot  believe  but  that  when  the  poor  read  of  these  things  in 
their  Bibles,  and  the  frequent  mention  of  mountains  in  the 
Psalms,  their  minds  glow  at  the  thought  of  their  own  moun- 
tains, and  they  realize  it  all  more  clearly  than  others." 

Thus  ended  our  morning  with  Wordsworth. 

October  8. — We  just  went  up  to  Wordsworth  with  a  copy  of 
the  "  Beadroll  of  Scamps  and  Heroes,"  for  which  he  had 
asked.  He  was  just  going  out,  so  we  joined  him  in  walking 
about  the  garden.  He  was  consulted  about  the  lines  of  dedi- 
cation for  our  Bride's  Album,  which  Barclay  had  sent  us : 

"  Living  though'ts  of  mighty  dead 
Through  these  leaves  lie  scattered, 
Writ  in  characters  designed 
For  the  open  heart  and  mind, 
Shadowings  of  a  high  ideal, 
Half  symbolic  and  half  real, 
Thoughts  that  breathe  of  faith  and  love, 
Nurtured  here,  but  born  above ; 
For,  howe'er  misunderstood, 
Still  the  Beautiful  and  Good, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  217 

Though  distinct  their  channels'  course, 
Flow  from  one  eternal  Source. 

"  Warm  affection  render  dear 
What  thy  train  have  pencilled  here  ; 
If  the  fingers  fail  in  skill, 
Fond  the  hearts  and  great  the  will : 
Should  our  gift  one  thought  inspire 
Heavenward  soaring,  winged  with  fire, 
Bride,  may  it  be  thine  to  prove 
Highest  things  are  nearest  love." 

He  made  only  one  criticism,  and  withdrew  it  directly  on 
understanding  the  line  better.  He  praised  the  verses,  and 
made  various  gratifying  inquiries  about  the  dear  writer.  He 
brought  us  in  to  see  Mrs.  Wordsworth,  who  was  getting  tea 
ready,  and  then  we  had  an  affectionate  parting. 

The  old  man  looks  much  aged  ;  his  manner  is  emphatic, 
almost  peremptory,  and  his  whole  deportment  is  virtuous  and 
didactic. 


CHAPTER    XI. 
1845. 

"  I  could  lie  down  like  a  tired  child, 
And  weep  away  the  life  of  care 
Which  I  have  borne  and  yet  must  bear." — SHELLEY. 

Falmouth,  January  i. — Life  is  ceaselessly  repeating  itself, 
yet  anything  but  monotony  is  the  result.  The  beginning  of 
our  New  Year  was  an  epitome  of  our  last  year's  experience, — 
a  marriage  and  a  funeral. 

January  n. — Many  details  of  an  ex-Friend,  William  Ta- 
well,  who  has  probably  poisoned  a  former  servant  of  his.  It 
is  a  case  of  uncommon  atrocity.  Several  years  ago  he  was 
transported  for  forgery,  remained  at  Sydney  after  his  term  of 
banishment,  made  a  handsome  fortune,  returned,  and  married 
the  mistress  of  a  school.  Just  before  he  was  taken  up  for 
forgery,  Peter  Bedford  had  a  very  strong  impression  on  his 
mind  that  he  ought  to  visit  him  and  warn  him  against  yield- 
ing to  some  very  strong  temptation  ;  but  he  so  disliked  the 
commission  that  he  did  not  yield  to  it  until  it  again  came 
heavily  before  him,  and  he  went.  He  found  him  in  his 
chemist's  shop,  and  begged  for  a  few  minutes'  conversation  : 
so  they  went  into  a  back  parlor,  when  he  quietly  told  him 
what  he  had  felt.  The  poor  man  covered  his  face  with  his 
hands,  cried  out,  "  It's  too  late  !"  and  left  the  room. 

January  13. — S.  Rigaud,  lecturer  from  the  Peace  Society, 
came  to  dinner ;  he  told  us  of  an  interview  with  Louis  Philippe, 
who  expressed  his  strong  sympathy  with  the  principle  of  peace, 
declaring  that  when  he  was  in  America  he  was  often  asked  for 
a  toast,  and  always  gave,  "  Universal  peace  throughout  the 
world."  He  said  that  since  he  came  to  the  throne  he  had 
been  endeavoring  to  maintain  the  peace  of  Europe,  and  had 
succeeded  so  far  as  to  make  it  improbable  that  war  should  be 
218 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  219 

again  known,  and  that  if  he  should  be  spared  a  few  years 
longer  he  quite  hoped  to  be  able  to  make  war  impossible  ! 
Bravo,  most  modest  king  ! 

January  18. — Charles  Johns,  the  botanist,  spent  the  morn- 
ing with  us.  The  earliest  botanical  fact  concerning  him  is 
that  a  biscuit  was  given  him  over  which  caraway-seeds  were 
sprinkled ;  he  picked  out  the  seeds,  planted  them,  and  waited 
— alas  !  vainly — for  a  crop  of  biscuits  ! 

January  24. — A  walk  with  papa,  in  which  he  bore  his  tes- 
timony to  the  depth,  perseverance,  and  far-seeing  nature  of 
the  German  mind  in  the  way  of  science.  Gauss's  theory  of 
electricity  is  the  cosmopolitan  one,  but  so  transcendent  as  to 
be  almost  beyond  English  comprehension.  What  is  under- 
stood of  it  is  greatly  applauded.  But  his  political  sentiments 
are  so  liberal  that  he  is  unable  to  remain  at  Gottingen. 

March  17. — Reading  "  Wilhelm  Meister."  It  is  a  marvel- 
lous book,  with  its  infinity  of  sharply  drawn,  perfectly  distinct 
personalities ;  there  is  nothing  in  the  least  ideal  in  it,  unless, 
indeed,  it  is  Mignon,  that  warm,  bright,  pure,  mysterious 
presence,  which  tends  to  sanctify  much,  which  much  requires 
sanctification.  Wilhelm's  weakness  is  indeed  remarkable,  and 
the  picture  of  German  morals,  if  a  true  one,  shows  that  they 
want  yet  another  Luther.  The  book  does  not  make  one  love 
the  author  more,  but  you  are  almost  startled  at  his  cleverness 
and  fertility,  and  often  passages  are  extraordinarily  thought- 
suggestive. 

March  18. — A  most  interesting  account  of  H.  C.  Back- 
house's interview  with  the  wretched  Tawell  the  morning  after 
his  conviction.  He  was  in  bed  in  the  deepest  agony.  She 
sat  by  his  side,  and  on  laying  her  hand  on  his  arm  he  burst 
into  tears,  and  they  wept  together.  At  last  he  said,  "  Pray 
for  me,"  which  she  soon  did.  He  was  very  grateful  for  the 
visit,  and  entreated  her  to  go  and  see  his  wife ;  she  said  she 
intended  to  do  so,  but  did  not  think  this  was  the  time. 
Whilst  with  him  she  had  a  most  awful  sense  of  the  weight  of 
his  guilt,  but  as  if  the  door  of  mercy  were  yet  open.  She  left 
him  with  her  own  mind  immensely  relieved. 


220  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

June  6. — Reading  a  brilliant  book  by  a  nameless  man, — 
"Eothen,  or  Eastern  Travel."  Full  of  careless,  easy,  mas- 
terly sketches,  biting  satire,  and  proud  superiority  to  com- 
mon report.  It  is  an  intellectual  egotism  which  he  acknowl- 
edges and  glories  in.  He  has  remarkably  freed  himself  from 
religious  prepossessions,  and  writes  as  he  feels,  not  as  he  ought 
to  feel,  at  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem. 

June  12. — Spent  the  evening  at  Penmere,  and  met  Pro- 
fessor Airy.*  His  subjects  were  principally  technical,  but  he 
handled  (hem  with  evident  power  and  consciousness  of  power. 
Perhaps  his  look  and  manner  were  sometimes  a  little  super- 
cilious, but  his  face  is  a  very  expressive  and  energetic  one, 
and  lights  up  with  a  sudden  brightness  whilst  giving  lively 
utterance  to  clear  expressive  thoughts.  He  spoke  with  evi- 
dent astronomical  contempt  of  the  .premature  attempts  of 
geology  to  become  a  science  ;  all  but  mathematically  proved 
Truth  seems  to  him  a  tottering  thing  of  yesterday.  He  de- 
lights in  the  Cornish  miners,  whom  he  has  long  known,  and 
attributes  their  superior  intelligence  and  independence  partly 
to  their  having  themselves  an  interest  in  the  mining  specula- 
tions and  adventures  of  their  employers, — an  arrangement 
unknown  in  other  parts.  The  virtues  of  the  dousing-rod  he 
wholly  attributes  to  the  excitability  of  the  muscles  of  the 
wrist.  He  totally  ignores  all  inhabitants  of  the  moon, 
and  says  there  is  no  more  appearance  of  life  there  than  in  a 
teacup.  And  he  seems  to  shun  everything  like  undemon- 
strable  hypotheses.  He  says  the  difference  which  Herschel's 
telescope  makes  in  the  appearance  of  the  moon  is  by  giving 
it  shade,  and  therefore  the  globular  instead  of  the  flat  look 
which  it  has  through  ordinary  glasses.  There  was  a  comet 
visible  this  evening,  but  very  pale  and  hazy. 

NOTE. — The  following  poem  by  John  Sterling,  written  to  a  friend  of  his 
youth,  was  published  in  "  Blackwood,"  and,  as  it  appears  in  Caroline  Fox's 
Journal  for  this  year,  it  is  here  reprinted,  with  the  editor  of  "  Blackwood's" 
very  kind  permission  : — 

*  Airy  (Sir  George  Biddell),  Astronomer-Royal;  born  June  27,  iSoi.at 
Alnwick. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  22l 

SERENA. 

Thy  pure  and  lofty  face, 

And  meditative  smiles  long  years  ago, 
Return  to  me,  how  strangely,  with  the  grace 

Of  quiet  limbs,  and  voice  attuned  and  low. 

They  come  with  thee,  benign 

And  ever-sage  Serena,  whom  no  more 
I  hoped  to  see  with  outward  eyes  of  mine 

Than  sunsets  lost  on  boyhood's  distant  shore. 

Though  years  have  left  their  mark, 

How  calmly  still  thine  eyes  their  beauty  wear, — 

Clear  fountains  of  sweet  looks,  where  nothing  dark 
Dwells  hidden  in  the  light  unstained  as  air ! 

In  manhood's  noisier  days, 

When  all  around  was  tumult  and  excess, 
I  saw  thy  pure  and  undistracted  gaze 

As  something  sent  from  heaven  to  warn  and  bless. 

And  then  with  shame  I  sighed, 

For  'mid  the  throng  I  rushed  without  a  pause, 
Nor  had  within  me  disavowed  the  pride 

Of  rash  adventure  and  of  men's  applause. 

But  soon  were  we  to  part, — 

I  still  to  strive  in  throngs  without  release, 
Thou  to  thy  leafy  village,  where  thy  heart 

Poured  blessings  wide,  repaid  by  tenfold  peace. 

Yet  often  wert  thou  nigh, 

As  when  a  wanderer  on  the  Indian  sea, 
In  sun-fire  fainting,  dreams  with  staring  eye 

His  English  childhood's  old  o'ershadowing  tree. 

We  spake  of  old,  when  night 

With  candles  would  outblaze  the  rising  sun, — 
When  fairest  cheeks,  and  foreheads  hoary  white, 

Seemed  all  detected  each  itself  to  shun. 

Now  through  this  window  note 

The  sycamores  high  built  in  evening's  gray  : 
While  scarce  a  star  can  pierce  nor  air  can  float 

Through  their  soft  gloom  from  ocean's  glistening  bay. 
19* 


222  MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Nature  is  blent  with  man, 

Its  changeful  aspects  and  its  mild  repose  ; 
And  I  could  fancy  in  thy  soul  began 

The  purple  softness  of  this  evening's  close. 

Oh,  joy!  again  to  meet, 

Far  gone  in  life,  secure  in  wisdom's  mood, 
Two  friends  whose  pulses  temperately  beat, 

Yet  feel  their  friendship  heaven's  foretasted  good. 

Accept  my  whispered  praise, 

O  Nature  !  and  Thou  holier  Name  than  this, 
Who  sends  to  walk  in  earth's  delirious  ways 

Forms  that  the  reckless  fear,  yet  fain  would  kiss. 

Goodness  is  great,  O  God  ! 

When  filling  silently  a  humble  breast ; 
Its  feet  in  darkness  and  disgust  have  trod 

All  noisome  floors,  to  seek  all  pain  supprest. 

How  more,  when  tranquil  eyes, 
Twin-born  of  Mercy,  dwell  upon  the  height, 

Serena,  far  above  our  worldly  skies, 
Whence  life  and  love  o'erflow  the  Infinite ! 

Let  us  be  glad,  dear  friend. 

And  part  in  calm  profound  as  midnight's  hour, 
Nor  heed  what  signs  in  groaning  earth  portend, 

For  we  tiave  that  within  beyond  its  power ! 

J.s. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
1846. 

"  What  is  man  ?    A  foolish  baby ; 

Vainly  strives,  and  fights,  and  frets, 
Demanding  all,  deserving  nothing  ; — 

One  small  grave  is  what  he  gets." — T.  CARLYLE. 

Falmouth,  January  4. — I  have  assumed  a  name  to-day  for 
my  religious  principles, — Quaker-Catholicism, — having  direct 
spiritual  teaching  for  its  distinctive  dogma,  yet  recognizing 
the  high  worth  of  all  other  forms  of  faith  ;  a  system  in  the 
sense  of  inclusion,  not  exclusion ;  an  appreciation  of  the 
universal,  and  various  teachings  of  the  Spirit,  through  the 
faculties  given  us,  or  independent  of  them. 

February  10. — Mrs.  Barnicoat  told  us  funny  reminiscences 
of  servitude  in  .Bath  and  Weymouth  :  in  the  former  place, 
servants  are  treated  like  Neddies;  at  the  latter,  she  was  en- 
gaged by  the  Royal  Hotel  to  cut  bread-and-butter  for  the 
royal  family,  who  would  take  tea  there  every  Sunday  at  six 
o'clock.  She  was  peculiarly  endowed  for  this  service,  being 
able  to  give  each  slice  a  bit  of  curl,  highly  satisfactory  to 
Majesty.  One  evening  when  she  chanced  to  be  out,  the 
plates  of  bread-and-butter  went  in  flat,  and  came  out  as  they 
went  in  ! 

February  18. — Teaching  in  infant-school.  By  way  of  real- 
izing a  lecture  of  affection  and  gratitude  to  parents,  I  asked 
each  of  the  little  class  what  one  thing  they  had  done  for  their 
mothers  that  morning ;  and  I  confess  I  felt  humbled  and 
instructed  to  discover  that  one  of  these  tiny  creatures  had 
worked  some  pocket-handkerchief,  another  lighted  the  fire, 
another  helped  to  lay  the  breakfast,  whilst  most  of  them  had 
taken  part  in  tending  the  baby  whilst  mother  was  busy. 

223 


224  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

March  18. — Papa  zealously  defended  this  age  from  the 
charge  of  languor.  He  thinks  there  never  was  such  activity, 
— so  much  so,  that  men  live  twice  as  long  now  as  formerly, 
in  the  same  number  of  years.  In  mechanics,  in  shipping,  in 
commerce,  in  book-making,  in  education,  and  in  philan- 
thropy, this  holds  good. 

London,  May  17. — To  Samuel  Laurence's  studio  to  be 
drawn.  Admirable  portraits  in  his  rooms  of  Hare,  Tenny- 
son, Carlyle,  Aubrey  de  Vere,  and  others.  Of  Laurence 
himself,  more  anon.  Saw  the  Mills  afterwards,  who  were 
infinitely  cordial,  and  John  Mill  most  anxious  that  we  should 
come  and  see  them  in  the  spirit  of  self-mortification. 

May  1 8. — Interesting  time  with  Laurence.  Tennyson 
strikes  him  as  the  strongest-minded  man  he  has  known.  He 
has  much  enjoyed  F.  D.  Maurice's  sittings  lately,  and  dwelt 
especially  upon  the  delicate  tenderness  of  his  character. 
Went  to  South  Place  to  luncheon,  and  met  Dean  Trench 
there, — a  large  melancholy  face,  full  of  earnestness  and  ca- 
pacity for  woe.  Under  a  portrait  of  himself  he  once  found 
the  name  "  Ugolino"  written,  he  looked  so  starved.  He 
spoke  of  the  two  Newmans,  who  are  alike  in  .person,  and  he 
sees  a  likeness  in  their  intellectual  results. 

Called  on  the  Derwent  Qoleridges  at  St.  Mark's.  Spoke 
of  F.  D.  Maurice  :  whatever  country  clergymen  may  think 
of  him,  he  is  appreciated  in  London  and  recognized  as  a 
leader  in  the  exposition  of  fundamental  eternal  Truth.  He 
feels  the  likeness  between  Maurice's  method  and  aim  and  that 
of  S.  T.  Coleridge,  and  devoutly  loves  it  accordingly. 

May  19. — In  the  evening  enter  F.  D.  Maurice,  who  spent 
two  or  three  hours  with  us  in  varied  conversation.  Of  the 
Newmans :  he  thinks  John  Henry  has  far  more  imagination 
than  Frank.  He  (Maurice)  was  so  little  prepared  for  John's 
last  change  that  he  hardly  feels  sure  it  will  now  be  a  final  one. 
Of  Bunsen's  "Church  of  the  Future:"  he  says  it  is  in  part 
a  defence  from  the  German  charge  that  he  would  bring  epis- 
copacy into  his  fatherland;  by  this  book  he  proves  himself  a 
German  Lutheran  in  the  ordinary  sense,  valuing  episcopacy, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  225 

but  not  deeming  it  essential,  and,  in  the  Arnold  spirit,  recog- 
nizing the  priesthood  of  every  man.  Talked  of  the  Duke 
of  Wellington,  in  whom  he  considers  the  idea  of  duty  to  be 
so  strong  and  constant  as  to  alone  make  him  emphatically  a 
great  man.  The  other  day  Rogers  remarked  to  the  duke, 
"  How  is  it  that  the  word  glory  never  occurs  in  your  de- 
spatches?" "Oh,"  he  replied,  "glory  is  not  the  cause  but 
the  consequence  of  action."  F.  D.  Maurice  then  spoke  of 
Carlyle's  "  Cromwell,"  in  which  he  rejoices  :  the  editorial 
labor  in  it  is  enormous ;  there  was  such  confusion,  now 
brought  into  perfect  clearness  by  different  punctuation  and  an 
occasional  connecting  word. 

May  23. — To  the  College  of  Surgeons,  where  we  found 
Professor  Owen  enjoying  his  Museum.  On  looking  at  the 
dodo,  he  said  that  he  believes  the  Dutch  on  their  way  to  Am- 
boyna,  used  to  call  at  New  Zealand  and  lay  in  a  stock  of 
these  birds ;  that  the  poor  natives  used  themselves  to  eat 
them,  and  when  they  were  all  gone  they  were  reduced  to  feed 
on  each  other.  He  talked  genially  about  Cromwell :  long 
since  he  had  founded  a  high  notion  of  him  from  Milton's 
sonnet,  which  he  once  triumphantly  repeated  to  a  party  who 
were  considering  the  propriety  of  erecting  Cromwell's  statue, 
as  a  monument  likely  to  outlast  the  House  of  Commons  and 
most  other  tangibilities.  He  has  been  recently  staying  with 
the  Prince  de  Canino  in  Rome,  among  the  relics  af  his  uncle, 
the  great  Napoleon. 

May  28. — To  the  Coleridges'  examination  by  Milman ;  he 
is  a  man  with  great  black  eyebrows,  and  a  strongly  expres- 
sive countenance,  displaying  more  of  strength  than  sensibility, 
more  of  the  critic  than  the  poet. 

May  29. — Went  to  the  Mills'.  John  Mill  produced  Forbes's 
book  on  the  Glaciers,  and  descanted  thereon  with  all  the 'en- 
thusiasm of  a  deep  love.  Talked  of  Blanco  White,  whom  he 
once  met  at  dinner.  He  did  not  seem  a  powerful  man,  but 
full  of  a  morbid  conscientiousness.  None  who  knew  him 
could  avoid  thinking  mildly  of  him,  his  whole  nature  was  so 
gentle  and  affectionate.  As  to  Cromwell,  he  does  not  always 


226  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

agree  with  Carlyle,  who  tries  to  make  him  out  ever  in  the 
right.  He  could  not  justify  the  Irish  massacres,  though  he 
fully  believes  that  Cromwell  thought  it  was  right,  as  a  matter 
of  discipline,  or  he- would  not  have  done  it.  Mill  says  that 
he  scarcely  ever  now  goes  into  society,  for  he  gets  no  good 
there,  and  doeb  more  by  staying  away. 

June  2. — Called  on  the  Maurices.  He  talked  of  Emerson 
as  possessing  much  reverence  and  little  humility ;  in  this  he 
greatly  differs  from  Carlyle.  He  gave  me,  as  an  autograph, 
a  paper  on  the  philosophy  of  laughter:  he  thinks  it  always 
accompanied  with  a  sense  of  power,  a  sudden  glory.  From 
this  he  proceeded  to  dilate  on  tears,  and  then  to  the  triumph 
over  both. 

June  3. — Paid  the  Carlyles  a  visit.  He  looks  thin,  but  well, 
and  is  recovering  from  the  torment  of  the  sixty  new  Cromwell 
letters :  he  does  not  mean  to  take  in  any  more  fresh  ones  on 
any  terms.  He  showed  us  his  miniature  portrait  of  Cromwell, 
and  talked  of  the  fine  cast  of  him  which  Samuel  Laurence  has. 
Carlyle  says  that  it  is  evidently  a  man  of  that  age,  a  man  of 
power  and  of  high  soul,  and  in  some  particulars  so  like  the 
miniature  that  artists  don't  hesitate  to  call  it  Cromwell. 
Talked  of  our  projected  tour  in  Switzerland,  where  we  said 
Barclay  was  to  go  to  grow  fat.  This  he  thinks  exceedingly 
unnecessary:  "It's  not  a  world  for  people  to  grow  fat  in." 
Spoke  of  his  first  vision  of  the  sea,  the  Solway  Firth,  when  he 
was  a  little  fellow  eighteen  inches  high  :  he  remembers  being 
terrified  at  it  all,  and  wondering  what  it  was  about,  rolling  in 
its  great. waves  ;  he  saw  two  black  things,  probably  boats,  and 
thought  they  were  the  tide  of  which  he  had  heard  so  much. 
But  in  the  midst  of  his  revery  an  old  woman  stripped  him 
naked  and  plunged  him  in,  which  completely  cured  him  of 
his  speculations.  If  any  one  had  but  raised  him  six  feet  above 
the  surface,  there  might  have  been  a  chance  of  his  getting 
some  general  impression,  but  at  the  height  of  eighteen  inches 
he  could  find  out  little  but  that  it  was  wet.  He  asked  about 
Yearly  Meeting  and  the  question  of  dress.  I  told  him  that 
the  clothes-religion  was  still  extant  ;  he  rather  defended  it  as 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  227 

symbolizing  many 'other  things,  though  of  course  agreeing  on 
its  poverty  as  a  test.  He  said,  "  I  have  often  wished  I  could 
get  any  people  to  join  me  in  dressing  in  a  rational  way.  In 
the  first  place,  I  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  hat ;  I  would 
kick  it  into  the  Serpentine,  and  wear  some  kind  of  cap  or 
straw  covering.  Then,  instead  of  these  layers  of  coats  one 
over  the  other,  I  would  have  a  light  waistcoat  to  lace  behind, 
because  buttoning  would  be  difficult ;  and  over  all  a  blouse," 
— ecce  Thomas  Carlyle  ! 

My  American  acquaintance  proceeded  from  vegetable  diet 
to  vegetable  dress,  and  could  not  in  conscience  wear  woollen 
or  leather,  "so  he  goes  about  Boston  in  a  linen  dress  and 
wooden  shoes,  though  the  ice  stands  there  many  feet  against 
the  houses.  I  never  could  see  much  in  him,  but  only  an  un- 
utterable belief  in  himself,  as  if  he  alone  were  to  bear  the 
weight  of  the  universe.  So  when  he  said  to  London,  with  all 
its  businesses  and  iniquities  and  vast  machinery  of  life,  '  Be 
other  than  thou  art  !'  he  seemed  quite  surprised  that  it  did 
not  obey  him."  I  remarked  on  its  being  rather  a  tendency 
among  American  thinkers  to  believe  more  intensely  in  man 
than  in  God  ;  he  said,  "  Why,  yes  ;  they  seem  to  think  that 
faith  in  man  is  the  right  sort  of  faith." 

June  4. — Called  on  the  Owens,  and  their  just-arrived  por- 
trait of  Cromwell.  It  was  as  of  one  resting  after  a  long  hard 
fight,  and,  in  the  calmness  of  his  evening,  recalling  and  judg- 
ing some  of  its  stern  incidents.  The  Carlyles  had  been  to  see 
it,  and  spent  a  characteristic  evening  there, — he  grumbling  at 
all  institutions,  but  confessing  himself  convinced  by  Owen's 
"Book  on  Fossils." 

Geneva,  June  15. — Called  on  M.  Merle  d'Aubigne,*  and 
were  interested  by  his  beautifully  curved  lips  and  strong  self- 
asserting  look  and  manner.  He  gave  some  insight  into  the 
present  politico-theological  state  of  Lucerne.  It  had  some 
idea  of  introducing  the  Jesuits  into  its  canton,  which  all  the 


*  D'Aubigne  (Jean  Henri  Merle),  church  historian  and  theologian.     Born  at 
Geneva  1794,  died  1872. 


228  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  PRIENDS. 

other  cantons  opposed  so  vehemently  that  it  immediately  did 
introduce  them  for  the  sake  of  asserting  its  rights  !  This  so 
affronted  the  rest  of  Switzerland  that  it  threatened  to  turn 
Lucerne  out  of  the  Diet ;  and  on  this  delicate  state  of  things 
they  are  now  debating  and  voting  with  great  vivacity. 

Madame  Janssen  tells  us  that  D'Aubigne  has  lost  a  child 
just  as  he  finished  each  volume  of  his  Reformation  History, 
except  the  last,  and  then  his  mother  died  !  Will  he  venture 
on  a  fifth  ? 

Merle  d'Aubigne  is  a  tall,  powerful-looking  man,  with  much 
delicacy  of  expression  and  some  self-consciousness,  very  shaggy 
overhanging  eyebrows,  and  two  acute,  deep-set,  discriminating 
eyes.  He  looks  about  fifty,  and  is  a  curious  compound  of 
J.  J.  Gurney  and  Andrew  Brandram. 

July  13. — At  Hattwyl  we  dined  at  the  table-d'hote  and  had 
Merle  d'Aubigne  opposite  us.  He  was  very  gracious,  and 
gladly  received  a  promise  of  a  set  of  Anna  Maria's  illustra- 
tions of  his  works.  He  spoke  of  the  laborious  interest  of  com- 
posing his  book,  declaimed  against  Michelet's  "  Luther,"  as 
making  the  man  ridiculous  by  the  vivid  and  undue  narrative 
of  his  temptations. 

July  30. — Made  the  acquaintance  of  two  American  ladies, 
and  was  much  pleased  with  them.  Mary  Ashburnham,  alias 
Fanny  Appleton,  was  a  near  neighbor  and  friend  of  theirs, — 
a  most  beautiful  girl,  whom  thirty  bold  gentlemen  sought  to 
win  !  She  came  to  Europe,  and  met  Longfellow  in  the  Black 
Forest,  and  there  transacted  the  scenes  described  in  "  Hy- 
perion." She  returned  to  America,  and  her  father  on  his 
death-bed  expressed  his  wish  that  of  all  her  suitors  she  should 
fix  her  choice  on  Longfellow,  as  the  person  most  worthy  of 
her  and  most  able  to  sympathize  with  her  feelings.  After  a 
little  time  she  married  him,  settled  in  the  country  in  poetic 
simplicity,  and  speaks  of  herself  as  the  happiest  woman  pos- 
sible. My  friends  heard  him  read  his  prize  poem  at  the  col- 
lege-so  exquisitely  that  their  orator,  Everett,  said  he  could 
hardly  endure  to  speak  after  him. 

London,  August  12. — Jacob  Bell  took  us  to  Landseer's,  who 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  229 

did  not  greatly  take  my  fancy.  Some  one  said  he  was  once  a 
dog  himself;  and  I  can  see  a  look  of  it.  He  has  a  somewhat 
arrogant  manner,  a  love  of  contradiction,  and  a  despotic 
judgment.  He  showed  us  the  picture  he  has  just  finished  of 
the  queen  and  Prince  Albert  in  their  fancy-ball  dresses.  He 
deeply  admires  the  queen's  intellect,  which  he  thinks  superior 
to  any  woman's  in  Europe.  Her  memory  is  so  very  remark- 
able that  he  has  heard  her  recall  the  exact  words  of  speeches 
made  years  before,  which  the  speakers  had  themselves  for- 
gotten. He  has  a  charming  sketch  of  her  on  horseback  before 
her  marriage.  His  little  dogs  went  flying  over  sofas,  chairs, 
and  us, — brilliant  little  oddities  of  the  Scotch  terrier  kind. 
Count  d'Orsay  was  with  him  when  we  came.  Landseer's 
ambition  is  to  make  a  picture  for  the  next  exhibition  of  Count 
d'Orsay  and  John  Bell,  in  the  same  frame  as  Young  England 
and  Old  England.  Saw  the  Fighting  Stags,  the  Belgian  Pony, 
and  a  capital  sketch  of  his  father  done  at  one  sitting. 

August  13. — Another  sitting  to  Laurence.  He  has  given 
his  portrait  of  Carlyle  to  Carlyle's  old  mother.  He  thinks 
Mrs.  Carlyle  fosters  in  him  the  spirit  of  contradiction  and 
restlessness.  He  regrets  the  jealous  feeling  existing  among  so 
many  artists,  keeping  them  apart,  and  leading  them  to  depre- 
cate each  other  like  petty  shopkeepers.  He  spoke  on  the 
growth  of  things  and  people,  adding,  "  What  'is  growth  but 
change?" 

August  14. — Breakfast  with  Ernest  de  Bunsen  and  his  wife, 
— both  so  bright,  merry,  and  affectionate ;  full  of  plans  for 
visiting  us  and  making  us  known  to  their  father,  whom  Ernest 
declares  not  to  be  at  all  a  one-sided  man,  but  able  to  turn 
with  pleasure  from  his  profoundest  studies  to  receive  friends 
and  chat  with  them.  Called  on  the  Maurices.  He  took  us 
to  see  his  chapel  with  the  beautiful  windows,  also  the  new 
dining-hall  in  Lincoln's  Inn  containing  Hogarth's  picture  of 
Paul  before  Felix ;  the  quiet  irony  of  the  apostle  evidently 
talking  down  the  orator  Tertullus,  very  funny  in  a  picture 
painted  for  the  lawyers.  Of  Miss  Bremer's  books  he  spoke 
genially,  entering  like  a  girl  into  the  heights  and  depths  of  the 


230 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


characters,  remarking  how  clearly  the  Truth  was  brought  out  in 
most  of  her  works,  that  the  victim  was  so  greatly  the  gainer. 

Falmouth,  September  5. — Dr.  Lloyd  introduced  his  Dublin 
friend  Dr.  Ball,  who  dined  with  us  to-day.  He  is  a  most 
erudite  naturalist,  and  was,  moreover,  very  clever  and  inter- 
esting on  Irish  subjects,  including  Archbishop  Whately,  that 
torment  of  intelligent  young  men  at  dinner-parties.  "  Do  you 
think  there  can  be  a  sixth  sense?"  "Yes;  and  it  is  called 
nonsense,"  said  Dr.  Ball.  He  feels  genially  on  Church  and 
State  politics  in  Ireland.  "Why  don't  the  noblemen  live  on 
their  Irish  estates?"  asked  some  one.  "  Because  they  are  not 
noblemen,"  was  his  reply. 

September  20. — Dr.  Lloyd  with  us :  he  threw  out  many  of 
his  own  large  comprehensive  views  and  feelings  on  religious 
matters ;  his  untractarian  and  unsectarian  convictions,  and 
his  broad  charity,  which  longs  for  all  to  enter  the  fold.  He 
has  introduced  Mill's  "  Logic"  into  the  Dublin  College,  and 
thinks  he  has,  more  than  any  other,  shown  the  worth  of  Bacon, 
but  also  that  he  is  wanting  in  the  deductive  department. 
Bacon  would  make  all  reason  from  facts  upward.  He  is  much 
interested  in  Mill's  chapter  on  Free  Will,  and  does  not  see 
the  evil  which  some  suspect  in  it,  but  feels  it  the  simple  state- 
ment of  a  fact,  that  there  are  definite  laws  governing  the  moral 
as  well  as  the  physical  world.  He  talked  of  Whately,  who  is 
much  injured  by  being  the  centre  of  a  clique  who  flatter  and 
never  contradict  him,  hence  he  becomes  very  despotic.  He  is 
a  most  generous  creature,  and  full  of  knowledge.  He  wriggles 
his  limbs  about  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  and  once  pro- 
nounced the  benediction  with  one  leg  hanging  over  the  read- 
ing-desk in  church ;  and  in  society  he  will  sit  balancing  his 
chair,  occasionally  tipping  over  backwards.  One  of  his  chap- 
lains, during  a  walk  with  him,  stated  that  fungus  was  very  good 
eating,  upon  which  the  archbishop  insisted  on  his  then  and 
there  consuming  a  slice,  which  the  poor  chaplain  resisting, 
the  archbishop  jerked  it  into  his  mouth.  A  doctor  who  was 
with  them  was  in  ecstasies  of  mirth  at  the  scene,  which  the 
archbishop  perceiving  said,  "Oh,  doctor!  you  shall  try  it 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  23 r 

too  :  it  is  very  important  for  you  to  be. able  to  give  an  opin- 
ion." "  No,  thank  you,  my  lord,"  said  the  doctor  ;  "  I  am 
not  a  clergyman,  nor  am  I  in  your  lordship's  diocese." 

September  29. — W.  E.  Forster  writes  from  Daniel  O'Con- 
nell's  house,  where  he  is  much  enjoying  himself.  His  family 
and  all  call  the  old  man  the  Liberator.  He  lives  in  a  simple 
patriarchal  style,  nine  grandchildren  flying  about,  and  kissing 
him,  on  all  sides. 

October  5. — Dr.  Lloyd  rejoined  us  this  evening.  He  looks 
at  science  with  the  ardor  of  a  lover  and  the  reverence  of  a 
child.  He  accepts  the  incomprehensible  and  waits  for  clearer 
vision ;  thus  he  can  be  no  scoffer,  no  denier,  but  a  teachable, 
and  therefore  a  taught,  disciple  of  very  Truth  itself,  whether 
speaking  through  outward  nature,  inward  conviction,  or  the 
written  message  of  God  to  man.  His  face  glows  with  a  sub- 
lime faith  when  he  unfolds  to  others  some  glimpses  of  the 
mysteries  of  existence  and  helps  them  to  an  intelligent  love 
for  the  things  seen  and  the  things  not  seen. 

Talked  much  of  Humboldt,  a  universal  man,  who  lives  in 
reality  far  longer  than  others,  as  he  takes  but  three  hours  and 
a  half  for  sleep  out  of  the  twenty-four,  and  is  always  in  a  high 
state  of  mental  excitement.  He  talks  any  language  you  please, 
and  upon  any  subject. 

October  6. — A  luminous  talk  with  Dr.  Lloyd  on  men  and 
books.  He  holds  Butler's  "  Analogy"  as  second  only  to  the 
Bible;  values  Wilberforce's  "Practical  Christianity,"  and 
all  Paley's  works,  except  his  "  Moral  Philosophy."  He 
wants  us  to  know  his  friend  Aubrey  de  Vere,  a  poetical,  pure- 
minded,  high-souled  creature. 

October  13. — Dined  at  Carclew;  met  Sir  Roderick  and 
Lady  Murchison.  He  gave  me  a  little  lecture  on  geology, 
which  he  regards  as  an  accomplished  fact :  all  the  principles 
of  terrestrial  arrangements  clearly  made  out,  only  details  to  be 
looked  after:  mineral  veins,  however,  a  quite  different  case; 
infinite  scope  therein  for  papa  and  all  magneticians.  He  is 
specially  cautious  about  giving  opinions  on  matter  not  imme- 
diately in  his  own  province,  and  seems  rather  to  enjoy  the 


232 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


vague  ignorance  which  keeps  observers  in  different  branches 
of  science  forever  guessing. 

October  24. — Heard  that  Archdeacon  Hare  is  likely  to 
bring  out  John  Sterling's  prose  works  before  Christmas. 
There  is  to  be  a  portrait  either  from  the  medallion  or  Dela- 
cour's  picture. 

December  31. — Dinner  at  Carclew.  Herman  Merivale  spoke 
of  John  Sterling  with  enthusiastic  admiration,  as  one  quite 
unlike  any  other,  so  deeply  influential  in  the  earnest  elo- 
quence of  his  conversation.  At  Cambridge  he  had  a  most 
loving  band  of  disciples,  who,  after  he  left,  still  felt  his 
opinion  a  law  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
1847. 

i  "  When  I  recall  my  youth,  what  I  was  then, 

What  I  am  now,  ye  beloved  ones  all, 
It  seems  as  though  these  were  the  living  men, 
And  we  the  colored  shadows  on  the  wall." 

MONCKTON   MlLNES. 

Falmouth,  January  i. — Samuel  Laurence  with  us.  He 
thinks  James  Spedding  the  most  beautiful  combination  of 
noble  qualities  he  has  ever  met  with.  He  is  collecting  letters 
of  Bacon's,  by  which  he  hopes  to  do  as  much  for  him  as  Car- 
lyle  has  for  Cromwell.  A  bust  of  Bacon  which  Laurence  has 
seen  is  so  entirely  free  from  everything  mean  that  on  the 
strength  of  it  he  rejects  Lord  Campbell's  Memoir,  believing  it 
to  be  inaccurate. 

February  18. — A  damsel  belonging  to  Barclay's  establish- 
ment being  here,  I  thought  it  right  "  to  try  and  do  her  good  ;" 
so  I  asked  her,  after  many  unsuccessful  questions,  if  she  had 
not  heard  of  the  Lord's  coming  into  the  world.  "Why," 
she  said,  "  I  may  have  done  so,  but  I  have  forgot  it."  "  But 
surely  you  must  have  heard  your  master  read  about  it,  and 
heard  of  it  at  school  and  church  and  chapel."  "  Very  likely 
I  have,"  said  she,  placidly,  "but  it  has  quite  slipped  my 
memory  !"  and  this  uttered  with  a  lamb-like  face  and  a  mild 
blue  eye. 

Dublin,  April  7. — Spent  part  of  our  morning  with  Robert 
Ball  in  his  den  at  the  college,  seeing  beasts,  birds,  and  bottles 
innumerable.  When  he  put  on  a  breast-plate  of  dog's  teeth 
he  looked  like  a  curious  preparation  ready  to  walk  into  a  glass 
case  ;  and  when  he  put  on  some  other  unpronounceable  sheath- 
like  garments,  he  exclaimed,  "  Coleoptera !"  and  replaced 
them.  He  is  'gradually  putting  the  museum  into  order, — an 

20*  233 


234 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


herculean  task.  Poor  man,  he  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the 
sunstroke  he  got  in  Gerrans  Bay,  but  has  been  seeing  spectres, 
particularly  a  very  troublesome  gentleman  in  black  like  a 
clergyman  ;  but  his  ghosts  are  getting  better.  He  described 
Owen's  skull  theory  as  a  production  of  the  spinal  process 
through  every  part  of  the  body,  a  perpetual  repetition  of  the 
primary  idea.  Dined  at  Mrs.  Lloyd's  ;  met,  among  many 
others,  Dr.  Anster,  the  admirable  translator  of  "  Faust,"* 
who  fell  to  my  share,  and  we  had  plenty  of  talk  on  German 
and  other  matters.  He  is  weary  of  translations,  and  thinks 
that,  except  S.  T.  Coleridge's  "  Wallenstein,"  no  poem  has 
ever  come  of  any  such  attempts.  Talked  of  Bailey's  "  Festus" 
and  other  natural  children  of  "  Faust."  He  objects  to  "  Fes- 
tus" on  poetical,  not  theological,  grounds,  for  somehow  he 
could  not  hit  on  the  fine  passages.  He  is  an  enthusiast  for 
Goethe,  and  thinks  him  as  selfish  for  others  as  for  himself, 
earnest  at  all  cost  that  they  should  get  their  meed.  But  he 
pretends  to  discover  vast  selfishness  in  "  Iphigenia,"  in  her 
steady  adherence  to  what  she  felt  to  be  right,  whatever  it 
might  cost  others.  He  likes  Carlyle's  translations  better  than 
his  originals,  except  his  "  Cromwell,"  which  he  receives  with 
great  deference.  Speaking  of  the  "Young  Man  in  Business 
who  wrote  Essays  at  Intervals,"f  he  said,  "  He  seems  not  to 
think  more  than  other  people,  which  is  a  great  comfort !" 

Dr.  Anster  is  a  great  burly  man,  awkward  in  his  ways,  oc- 
casionally making  a  deep  utterance,  the  voice  rising  from  the 
lowest  depth  within  him.  There  is  some  beauty  in  his  pro- 
file and  in  the  sudden  lighting  up  of  his  countenance.  He 
seems  warmly  interested  in  the  sufferings  of  the  poor  people 
around  him. 

April  9. — Dr.  Lloyd  told  us  that  one  night,  during  the 
British  Association  Meeting  in  Dublin,  when  he  was  utterly 
fagged  with  his  duties  as  secretary,  and  had  fallen  into  an  in- 

*G.  H.  Lewes,  in  his  "  Life  of  Goethe,"  speaks  of  Dr.  Anster's  translation 
of  "  Faust"  as  a  splendid  paraphrase. 

•\Helps  (Sir  Arthur),  born  in  1817,  died  in  1875;  author  of  "  Friends  in 
Council,"  and  many  other  well-known  works. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  235 

tense  sleep,  he  was  aroused  by  a  tremendous  knocking,  and 
in  came  Sir  William  Hamilton  with,  "  My  dear  Lloyd,  I  am 
so  sorry  to  disturb  you,  but  this  Norwegian  noble  and  I  have 
become  great  friends,  and  he  must  not  leave  Dublin  until  we 
have  had  a  glass  of  wine  together.  Unluckily,  I  have  none 
left :  will  you  lend  me  a  bottle  ?"  So  the  poor  doctor  had  to 
turn  out  to  promote  friendly  relations  between  scientific  bodies. 

Bristol,  May  12. — A  visit  to  M.  A.  Schimmelpennick : 
symbolic  as  ever,  and  teeming  with  imaginative  facts.  She 
is  a  very  genial  person,  so  alive  to  the  beauty  of  all  religious 
faith,  however  widely  diverse.  She  spoke  of  having  suffered 
from  an  indiscriminate  theological  education  ;  it  has  made  it 
hard  to  her  to  connect  herself  decidedly  with  any  special 
body,  and  thus,  she  thinks,  has  checked  her  practical  useful- 
ness. But  may  not  her  outward  vocation  have  been  to  intro- 
duce opinions  to  each  other,  dressed,  not  in  vinegar,  but  in 
oil? 

London,  May  14. — Met  Ernest  de  Bunsen  at  Ham  House. 
He  was  very  pleasant,  talked  rapturously  of  Archdeacon  Hare 
and  the  Maurices  (a  sure  passport  to  our  regard),  and  intro- 
duced us  to  the  personal  peculiarities  of  many  great  Germans. 
Steffens,  he  told  us,  had  died  two  years  since  ;  he  was  very 
eloquent,  but  no  great  originator  ;  he  rather  edited  other 
men's  efforts.  Humboldt  is  too  great  a  talker  to  please  him. 
Grimm  is  delightful;  his  "  Gammer  Grethel"  and  Bunsen's 
"  Church  of  the  Future"  must  be  read  before  we  meet  next. 
He  owns  that  his  father's  is  a  very  obscure  style,  it  takes  so 
much  for  granted  that  you  don't  know,  but  is  so  logical  in  its 
construction. 

May  1 6. — Ernest  de  Bunsen  and  his  wife  went  to  meeting 
with  us  this  evening.  Ernest  would  like  meeting  far  better  if 
he  might  take  his  Testament  and  read  when  he  was  not  better 
employed,  he  so  dislikes  the  idea  of  appearing  to  worship  when 
he  is  not  worshipping.  At  church  he  always  contrives  a  little 
silent  service  for  himself  before  the  sermon  by  a  not  difficult 
effort  of  abstraction.  The  Church  in  Germany  is  as  confused 
as  ever  :  Bonn  is  the  orthodox  university,  Halle  the  contrary ; 


236  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

Strauss*  is  so  superficial  that  he  has  founded  no  school,  though 
many  follow  his  mode  of  doubting.  Tholuck  and  his  party 
seem  likely  in  time  to  become  Puseyites,  clinging  in  a  bigoted 
spirit  to  what  is  old  and  formal  for  the  mere  sake  of  its 
antiquity. 

He  sang  us  some  old  German  hymns.  The  rich  sustained 
quality  of  his  voice,  and  its  wonderfully  beautiful  tones,  were 
a  rare  treat  to  listen  to.  He  seldom  sings  without  accompani- 
ment, and  never  unless  he  feels  secure  of  sympathy,  for  it  is  a 
most  serious,  full-hearted  affair  with  him  ;  he  cannot  sing  for 
show.  The  other  day  Sarah  Gurney  heard  him  sing  and  Men- 
delssohn accompany  him.  Mendelssohn  is  beautiful,  poetical, 
and  childlike,  clinging  to  those  he  loves  ;  his  playing  is  like 
Ariel  in  the  "Tempest." 

May  17. — Archdeacon  Hare  joined  us,  —  as  nervous, 
dragged-looking  a  man  as  in  his  portrait,  but  far  more  genial 
and  approachable  than  that  would  lead  you  to  expect.  Plenty 
of  pleasant  talk  but  nothing  extremely  marked.  We  were 
presently  on  the  footing  of  old  friends.  Walter  Savage  Lan- 
dor  had  been  with  him  this  morning,  intolerant  of  everything 
as  usual ;  some  of  his  views  very  amusing  :  "  The  only  well- 
drawn  figure  in  existence,  a  female  by  Overbeck  in  his  picture 
of  'Children  brought  to  Christ;'  Milton  wrote  one  good 
line,  but  he  forgot  it ;  Dante  perhaps  six,  his  description  of 
Francesca;  Carlyle's  'French  Revolution'  a  wicked  book,  he 
had  worn  out  one  volume  in  tossing  it  on  to  the  floor  at  start- 
ling passages,"  etc.,  etc.  His  old  age  is  an  amalgam  of  the 
grotesque  and  forlorn. 

May  1 8. — Ernest  de  Bunsen  took  us  to  town  and  told  us  a 
plenty  by  the  way.  His  father  and  he  find  much  good  in 
coursing  about  to  different  places  of  worship,  both  because 
the  novelty  of  form  is  striking  and  tends  to  bring  home  old 
truths  with  new  force,  and  because  you  can  thus  get  some  test 


*  Strauss  (David  Friedrich)  born  in  Wiirtemberg  1808.  He  studied  under 
Schleiermacher.  In  1835  he  published  his  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  and  followed  this 
by  other  well-known  works  of  the  same  tendency.  He  died  1874. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  237 

notion  of  what  in  you  is  spiritual  and  what  habitual  and  acci- 
dental. As  for  the  principle  of  peace,  he  does  not  think  it 
would  do  for  our  present  world.  The  grand  need  he  feels  in 
England  is  a  sense  of  individual  responsibility:  here  people 
act  in  masses,  they  feel  their  individual  powers  but  think  it 
wrong  to  use  them ;  in  Germany  they  are  educated  to  recognize 
in  these  powers  their  most  awful  responsibilities.  He  spoke 
of  his  father's  early  life :  he  left  college  and  was  going  to 
Calcutta,  but  he  thought  he  would  see  his  guardian,  Niebuhr, 
at  Rome  on  his  way.  Here  Ernest's  grandfather  and  grand- 
mother with  their  two  daughters  were  also  staying,  and  they 
met  in  society.  But  Bunsen  was  a  young  unknown  man,  sit- 
ting in  a  corner.  Mrs.  Waddington,  whose  eye  was  a  most 
acute  one,  was  fascinated  by  his  appearance,  declared  him  the 
man  of  greatest  eminence  in  the  room,  and  determined  to 
know  more  of  him.  But  no  one  could  tell  who  he  was ;  so 
she  was  leaving  the  room  unsatisfied,  when  she  resolved  to 
make  one  more  attempt,  and  met  him  on  the  stairs  ;  some  one 
introduced  them,  and  they  presently  became  fast  friends.  He 
went  about  sight-seeing  with  them,  and  spreading  a  new 
charm  everywhere.  In  the  course  of  time  Mr.  Waddington 
thought  he  must  return  to  England,  and  Bunsen  remembered 
that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Calcutta,  when  all  made  the  start- 
ling discovery  that  he  was  in  love  with  one  of  the  daughters. 
"  Well,"  the  Herr  Papa  said,  "the  only  thing  is,  I  must  be 
in  England  in  five  weeks :  if  you  can  manage  to  get  married 
in  that  time,  well  and  good."  And  they  did  manage  it. 
Ernest  talks  delightfully  of  the  way  in  which  they  brought  up 
their  family  in  such  liberty,  confidence,  and  love,  helping 
them  to  apprehend  the  deepest  principles,  and  then  watching 
the  various  developments  of  these  with  quiet  trust. 

Well,  we  arrived  at  Carlton  Terrace  at  ten  o'clock,  and 
were  soon  made  known  to  this  remarkable  family,  who  re- 
ceived us  like  old  friends  and  said  they  seemed  to  have  long 
known  us.  Madame  is  a  very  foreign-looking  lady,  with 
plenty  of  dignity  but  more  heart,  so  that  Ernest  was  at  once 
for  leading  her  off  in  a  wild  dance,  "  because  you  are  so 


238  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

vwerry  glat  to  see  your  son."  She  is  practical  and  clear- 
sighted, and  has  done  much  in  the  education  of  the  family. 
The  Chevalier  has  far  more  real  beauty  than  I  expected,  ex- 
quisite chiselling  about  the  mouth  and  chin,  large  gray  eyes, 
a  certain  vagueness  and  dreaminess,  but  also  a  general  de- 
cision of  character  in  the  expression  of  the  face,  and  a  fine 
glow  of  genial  feeling  over  all.  His  wife  showed  us  a  bust  of 
him  taken  "just  the  last  moment  before  his  face  filled  out 
so,"  quite  ideally  beautiful.  I  sat  by  him  at  breakfast  and 
enjoyed  his  profile  as  well  as  his  conversation.  Frederick 
Maurice  was  also  there,  and  the  Henry  Bunsens  and  the  sweet 
sister  Mary.  We  had  much  talk  on  the  German  Hospital  at 
Dalston,  the  Chevalier's  peculiar  pet ;  and  of  Fliedner  and 
his  deaconesses,  four  of  whom  are  employed  at  the  hospital : 
he  earnestly  longs  for  a  similar  institution  for  this  country, 
where  those  who  desire  to  serve  their  fellow-creatures  in  the 
name  of  Christ  may  find  a  fitting  and  systematized  sphere, 
but  he  waits  with  quiet  trust  for  the  hour  and  the  man  to  give 
it  a  vital  existence.  The  grand  distinction  between  the  Prot- 
estant and  Roman  Catholic  idea  of  such  a  service  is,  that  in 
the  latter  one  single  sacrifice  is  made  for  life,  and  simple 
obedience  to  an  iron  law  then  becomes  the  daily  duty ;  in  the 
Protestant  idea  the  sacrifice  is  a  continual  act  of  faith,  hourly 
renewed  and  always  linked  with  an  act  of  love.  This  is  his 
receipt  for  keeping  faith  from  degenerating  into  hard  bigotry : 
"Link  it  always  with  a  loving  act."  He  gave  me  a  report 
of  the  Strasbtirg  institution,  and  wrote  his  name  thereupon. 
They  told  us  much  of  Niebuhr,  whose  beautiful  bust  by  Wolff 
is  in  their  drawing-room.  He  was  a  man  to  be  eminently 
loved  and  honored.  His  second  marriage  was  not  so  helpful 
to  him  as  might  be  wished :  Gretchen  would  not  rise  and 
cheer  and  brighten  him  in  his  difficulties,  but  took  exactly  his 
tone.  He  talked  of  Steffens  and  Schleiermacher,  and  his 
personal  recollections  of  them  ;  of  their  troublous  times  during 
the  war,  when  they  clubbed  together,  and  Mrs.  Schleiermacher 
was  housekeeper,  and  would  give  them  the  option  between 
bread  and  scrape  every  day  ;  and  dry  bread  six  days,  and  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  2T,g 

feast  on  the  seventh.  Descanted  on  the  Irish  with  much  and 
deep  sympathy.  They  have  a  splendid  portrait  of  the  King 
of  Prussia,  painted  on  china,  and  presented  by  himself.  Er- 
nest tells  us  of  his  father's  intimacy  with  our  queen,  whom  he 
finds  high-principled,  religious,  and  judicious.  In  the  course 
of  the  morning  he  took  us  to  George  Richmond's  studio,  who 
showed  us  his  life-like  portrait  of  Bunsen,  and  then  exhibited 
one  of  an  English  judge  as  an  extreme  contrast, — the  one 
dreamy  and  beautiful,  the  other  solid,  self-satisfied,  and  prac- 
tical. George  Richmond  is  a  mild,  unassuming,  easy,  agree- 
able man,  with  a  large  open  eye,  and  a  look  of  as  much  good- 
ness as  intelligence.  He  talked  of  John  Sterling  and  his 
merits,  and  he  regrets  that  he  never  got  even  a  sketch  of  him. 
May  20. — Went  to  Chelsea,  where  we  soon  settled  into  an 
interesting  talk  with  Mrs.  Carlyle.  She  has  been  very  ill, 
and  the  doctors  gave  her  opium  and  tartar  for  her  cough, 
which  induced,  not  beautiful  dreams  and  visions,  but  a  mis- 
erable feeling  of  turning  to  marble  herself  and  lying  on  mar- 
ble, her  hair,  her  arms,  and  her  whole  person  petrifying  and 
adhering  to  the  marble  slab  on  which  she  lay.  One  night  it 
was  a  tombstone, — one  in  Scotland  which  she  well  knew. 
She  lay  along  it  with  a  graver  in  her  hand,  carving  her  own 
epitaph  under  another,  which  she  read  and  knew  by  heart. 
It  was  her  mother's.  She  felt  utterly  distinct  from  this  pros- 
trate figure,  and  thought  of  her  with  pity  and  love,  looked  at 
different  passages  of  her  life,  and  moralized  as  on  a  familiar 
friend.  It  was  more  like  madness  than  anything  she  has  ever 
experienced.  "  After  all,"  she  said,  "  I  often  wonder  what 
right  I  have  to  live  at  all."  She  talked  sadly  of  the  world's 
hollowness,  and  every  year  deepening  her  sense  of  this:  half 
a  dozen  real  friends  is  far  too  magnificent  an  allowance  for 
any  one  to  calculate  on  :  she  would  suggest  half  a  one ;  those 
you  really  care  about  die.  She  gave  a  wondrously  graphic 
and  ludicrous  picture  of  an  insane  imagination  cherished  by 
a  poor  invalid  respecting  her.  Carlyle  is  not  writing  now, 
but  resting, — reading  English  history  and  disagreeing  with 
the  age.  She  told  of  M.  F ,  an  American  transcenden- 


240 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


talist.  She  came  here  with  an  enthusiasm  for  Carlyle.  She 
has  written  some  beautiful  things,  and  is  a  great  friend  of 
Emerson's,  of  whom  she  speaks  with  more  love  than  rever- 
ence. Mrs.  Carlyle  does  not  see  that  much  good  is  to  come 
of  Emerson's  writings,  and  grants  that  they  are  arrogant  and 
short-coming.  He  came  to  them  first  in  Scotland  with  a  note 
from  John  Stuart  Mill  in  his  pocket,  and  was  kindly  welcome 
in  a  place  where  they  saw  nothing  but  wild-fowl,  not  even  a 
beggar.  She  talked  of  her  own  life  and  the  mistake  of  over- 
educating  people.  She  believes  that  her  health  has  been  in- 
jured for  life  by  beginning  Latin  with  a  little  tutor  at  five  or 
six  years  old,  then  going  to  the  rector's  school  to  continue 
it,  then  having  a  tutor  at  home,  and  being  very  ambitious  she 
learned  eagerly.  Irving,  being  her  tutor,  and  of  equally  ex- 
citable intellect,  was  delighted  to  push  her  through  every 
study;  then  he  introduced  her  to  Carlyle,  and  for  years  they 
had  a  literary  intimacy,  and  she  would  be  writing  constantly 
and  consulting  him  about  everything,  "  and  so  it  would  prob- 
ably have  always  gone  on,  for  we  were  both  of  us  made  for 
independence,  and  I  believe  should  never  have  wanted  to  live 
together,  but  this  intimacy  was  not  considered  discreet,  so 
we  married  quietly  and  departed."  She  laughs  at  him  as  a 
nurse;  he  peeps  in  and  looks  frightened,  and  asks,  "  How  are 
ye  now,  Jeannie?"  and  vanishes,  as  if  well  out  of  a  scrape. 
Talked  of  her  brilliant  little  friend  Zoe  (Miss  Jewsbury),* 
who  declares  herself  born  without  any  sense  of  decency  :  the 
publishers  beg  she  will  be  decent,  and  she  has  not  the  slightest 
objection  to  be  so,  but  she  does  not  know  what  it  is ;  she  im- 
plores Mrs.  Carlyle  to  take  any  quantity  of  spotted  muslin 
and  clothe  her  figures  for  her,  for  she  does  not  know  which 
are  naked.  She  is  a  very  witty  little  thing,  full  of  emotions, 
which  overflow  on  all  occasions  ;  her  sister,  the  poetess,  tried 
to  bring  them  into  young-lady-like  order,  and  checked  her 
ardent  demonstrations  of  affection  in  society  and  elsewhere. 

*  Jeiosbury  (Geraldine  E.),  younger  sister  of  Mrs.  Fletcher,  »«M.  J.  Jews- 
bury.  She  wrote  "Zoe,"  "  The  Half-Sisters,"  "  Marian  Withers,"  and  other 
novels. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX,  241 

The  sister  died,  so  did  the  parents,  and  this  wild  creature  was 
thrown  on  the  world,  which  hurled  her  back  upon  herself. 
She  read  insatiably  and  at  random  in  an  old  library,  alchemy, 
physiology,  and  what  not,  and  undraped  "  Zoe"  is  the  result. 
Dr.  Chalmers's  coadjutor,  as  leader  of  the  Free  Church,  came 
in  one  day  when  she  was  here:  she  said,  "He  looked  the 
incarnation  of  a  Vexed  Question." 

Carlyle  wandered  down  to  tea,  looking  dusky  and  aggrieved 
at  having  to  live  in  such  a  generation  ;  but  he  was  very  cordial 
to  us  notwithstanding.  Of  Thomas  Erskine,  whom  they  both 
love  :  "  He  always  soothes  me,"  said  Mrs.  Carlyle,  "  for  he 
looks  so  serene,  as  if  he  had  found  peace.  He  and  the  Calvin- 
istic  views  are  quite  unsuited  to  each  other."  Carlyle  added, 
"Why,  yes;  it  has  been  well  with  him  since  he  became  a 
Christian."  We  had  such  a  string  of  tirades  that  it  was  nat- 
ural to  ask,  "Who  has  ever  done  any  good  in  the  world?" 
"  Why,  there  was  one  George  Fox  :  he  did  some  little  good. 
He  walked  up  to  a  man  and  said,  '  My  fat-faced  friend,  thou 
art  a  damned  lie.  Thou  art  pretending  to  serve  God  Al- 
mighty, and  art  really  serving  the  devil.  Come  out  of  that, 
or  perish  to  all  eternity.'  This — ay,  and  stronger  language 
too — had  he  to  say  to  his  generation,  and  we  must  say  it  to 
ours  in  such  fashion  as  we  can.  It  is  the  one  thing  that  must 
be  said;  the  one  thing  that  each  must  find  out  for  himself  is 
that  he  is  really  on  the  right  side  of  the  fathomless  abyss, 
serving  God  heartily,  and  authorized  to  speak  in  His  name 
to  others.  Tolerance  and  a  rose-water  world  is  the  evil 
symptom  of  the  time  we  are  living  in  :  it  was  just  like  it 
before  the  French  Revolution,  when  universal  brotherhood, 
tolerance,  and  twaddle  were  preached  in  all  the  market- 
places; so  they  had  to  go  through  their  Revolution  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  a  day  butchered, — the  gutters  thick  with 
blood,  and  the  skins  tanned  into  leather  :  and  so  it  will  be 
here  unless  a  righteous  intolerance  of  the  devil  should  awake 
in  time.  Utter  intolerance  of  ourselves  must  be  the  first  step 
— years  of  conflict,  of  agony — before  it  comes  out  clearly  that 
you  have  a  warrant  from  God  to  proclaim  that  lies  shall  not 

I  21 


242 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


last,  and  to  run  them  through  or  blow  them  into  atoms.  'Tis 
not,  truly,  an  easy  world  to  live  in,  with  all  going  wrong. 
The  next  book  I  write  must  be  about  this  same  tolerance,  this 
playing  into  the  hands  of  God  and  the  devil :  to  the  devil 
with  it !  Then  another  man  who  did  some  good  was  Colum- 
bus, who  fished  up  the  island  of  America  from  the  bottom  of 
the  sea;  and  Caxton, — he  too  did  something  for  us  ;  indeed, 
all  who  do  faithfully  whatever  in  them  lies,  do  something  for 
the  universe."  He  is  as  much  as  ever  at  war  with  all  the 
comfortable  classes,  and  can  hardly  connect  good  with  any- 
thing that  is  not  dashed  into  visibility  on  an  element  of 
strife.  He  drove  with  us  to  Sloane  Square,  talking  with 
energetic  melancholy  to  the  last. 

May  21. — Just  heard  of  the  death  of  Daniel  O'Connell. 
Vinet  also  is  gone. 

May  22. — Called  on  Frank  Newman,  and  were  soon  in  the 
presence  of  a  thin,  acute-looking  man,  oddly  simple,  almost 
quaint  in  his  manner,  but  with  a  sweetness  in  his  expression 
which  I  had  not  at  all  expected.  He  was  as  cordial  as  possi- 
ble, but  in  a  curiously  measured  way. 

May  24. — Went  with  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  Samuel  Laurence  to 
see  Thomas  Hope's  Gallery  in  Duchess  Street.  She  is  de- 
lightfully unaffected  in  her  appreciation  of  pictures,  and  will 
not  praise  where  she  does  not  feel.  The  Francias  in  the 
National  Gallery  are  more  to  her  than  all  the  rest. 

May  26. — Called  on  Dr.  Southwood  Smith,  who  exhibited 
Jeremy  Bentham  to  us,  and  talked  much  of  the  bland-looking 
old  philosopher,  whom  he  had  "prepared,"  dissected,  and 
lectured  upon,  as  well  as  loved. 

May  27. — F.  D.  Maurice  and  Samuel  Laurence  spent  the 
evening  with  us.  The  former  on  Ireland,  deeply  trusts  that 
much  of  her  evil  will  be  consumed  in  this  sorrow,  and  that 
she  will  come  out  purified.  O'Connell  could  not  have  been 
a  permanent  benefactor ;  he  never  told  his  countrymen  one 
unpalatable  truth,  and  his  death  now  makes  little  or  no  sensa- 
tion in  a  political  sense.  Maurice  looks  for  a  season  of  sharp 
proving  for  us  all, — physical  calamity,  and  moral  trial,  which 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  243 

must  always  accompany  it.  A  prophecy  is  current  in  many 
counties,  "The  blight  is  for  the  first  year  on  the  potatoes,  for 
the  second'on  the  corn,  and  for  the  third  on  the  bodies  of 
men." 

May  28. — Called  on  the  Bunsens  in  Carlton  Terrace. 
Madame  Bunsen  and  Anna  Maria  erudite  on  the  old  Greeks ; 
daughters  and  I  sharp-sighted  on  the  modern  Europeans. 
Their  first  impression  of  the  English  was  that  they  were  a 
formal  and  heartless  people,  but  this  got  itself  corrected  in 
time,  and  they  now  value  the  forms  as  all  tending  to  lead  to 
something  better, — as  a  safety-valve,  or  else  a  directing  post 
for  religious  feeling  when  it  comes,  which  is  just  what  they 
think  the  Germans  lack.  Neukomm*  has  made  them  all 
phrenologists  ;  he  is  now  almost  blind.  They  have  a  great 
notion  of  names  affecting  character,  but  were  driven  to  ex- 
plain this  as  a  mere  bit  of  subjectivity. 

Then  to  the  Dean  of  Westminster  (Dr.  Buckland)  in  his 
solemn  habitation.  He  took  us  through  the  old  abbey,  so 
full  of  death  and  of  life.  There  was  solemn  music  going  on 
in  keeping  with  the  serious  Gothic  architecture  and  the  quiet 
memory  of  the  great  dead.  The  Dean  was  full  of  anecdote, 
— historical,  architectural,  artistic,  and  scientific.  The  new- 
found planet  is  now  recognized  as  a  joint  discovery,  and  is  to 
be  called  Neptune.  On  Prince  Albert  condoling  with  Pro- 
fessor Adams  on  the  vexatious  incidents  of  the  affair,  he  an- 
swered, "  Oh,  I  hope  we  shall  find  another  planet  during  your 
Royal  Highness's  chancellorship."  We  got  a  far  grander 
and  truer  notion  of  Westminster,  both  inside  and  out,  than 
we  ever  had  before. 

Falmouth,June  18. — I  was  employed  for  the  day  in  writing 
a  sketch  of  John  Sterling's  life  for  Archdeacon  Hare.  Read 
the  latter's  dedication  to  Manning  on  the  true  Principle  of 
Unity :  delightfully  large  and  deep,  and  full  of  faith. 


*  Neukomm  (The  Chevalier  Sigismund),  the  celebrated  German  composer, 
born  1778,  was  related  to  and  educated  by  the  Haydns.  Upon  the  organ  he 
was  considered  to  be  the  greatest  performer  in  the  world.  He  died  in  1858. 


244 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


July  19. — A.  Murray  to  dinner.  He  told  us  of  his  having 
had  an  interview  with  Napoleon  when  he  was  First  Consul : 
he  was  then  thin,  sharp- featured,  and  with  such  an  eye ;  he 
wore  long  hair  and  a  general's  uniform.  Murray  was  a  great 
agriculturist,  and  had  then  some  thoughts  of  settling  in  France, 
but  Napoleon  advised  him  not  to  do  so,  and  not  to  bring  a 
large  stock  of  sheep,  because  the  government  was  still  in  too 
unsettled  a  state ;  however,  he  promised,  in  case  he  persisted 
in  his  intentions,  to  afford  him  every  facility  and  protection. 
Napoleon's  manner  throughout  the  interview  was  affable  and 
kind. 

September  15. — Mrs.  Buchanan  talked  about  Mrs.  Carlyle, 
whom  she  had  known  at  Fort  Augustus  as  Jeannie  Welsh. 
She  and  her  very  pretty  widowed  mother  were  staying  there ; 
a  clergyman  went  to  call  one  morning,  and,  finding  Greek 
and  Hebrew  books  scattered  about  the  parlor,  he  asked, 
"What  young  student  have  you  here?"  "Oh,  it  is  only 
Jeannie  Welsh,"  was  the  answer.  Another  who  called  re- 
ported that  the  mother  would  get  two  husbands  before  the 
daughter  had  one;  however,  this  was  a  mistake,  for  news 
came  before  long  that  Jeannie  had  married,  "just  a  bookish 
man  like  herself."  A— — 's  impression  of  Carlyle  is  that  he 
is  sinking  deeper  in  negations,  and  since  publishing  Crom- 
well's letters  has  been  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  tell  the 
world  that  it  was  not  from  any  love  of  the  creed  of  the  man 
that  he  undertook  the  exhumation. 

October  4. — Barnard,  our  Cornish  sculptor,  dined  with  us. 
He  is  a  great,  powerful,  pugilistic-looking  fellow  of  twenty- 
nine  ;  a  great  deal  of  face,  with  all  the  features  massed  in  the 
centre;  mouth  open,  and  all  sorts  of  simplicities  flowing  out 
of  jt.  He  liked  talking  of  himself  and  his  early  and  late 
experiences.  His  father,  a  stone-mason,  once  allowed  him  to 
carve  the  letters  on  a  little  cousin's  tombstone  which  would 
be  hidden  in  the  grass  ;  this  was  his  first  attempt,  and  instead 
of  digging  in  the  letters  he  dug  around  them,  and  made  each 
stand  out  in  relief.  His  stories  of  Chantrey  very  odd  :  on  his 
death  Lady  Chantrey  came  into  the  studio  with  a  hammer  and 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  245 

knocked  off  the  noses  of  many  completed  busts,  so  that  they 
might  not  be  too  common, — a  singular  atttention  to  her  de- 
parted lord.  Described  his  own  distress  when  waiting  for  Sir 
Charles  Lemon  to  take  him  to  court :  he  felt  very  warm,  and 
went  into  a  shop  for  some  ginger-beer ;  the  woman  pointed 
the  bottle  at  him,  and  he  was  drenched  !  After  wiping  him- 
self as  well  as  he  could,  he  went  out  to  dry  in  the  sun.  He 
went  first  to  London  without  his  parents  knowing  anything 
about  it,  because  he  wished  to  spare  them  anxiety  and  let  them 
know  nothing  until  he  could  announce  that  he  was  regularly 
engaged  by  Mr.  Weekes.  He  showed  us  his  bust  of  the  Prince 
of  Wales, — a  beautiful  thing,  very  intellectual,  with  a  strong 
likeness  to  the  queen, — which  he  was  exhibiting  at  the  Poly- 
technic, where  it  will  remain. 

October  7. — Dined  at  Carclew,  and  spent  a  very  interesting 
evening.  We  met  Professor  Adams,*  the  Bullers,  the  Lord 
of  the  Isles,  and  others.  Adams  is  a  quiet-looking  man,  with 
a  broad  forehead,  a  mild  face,  and  a  most  amiable  and  ex- 
pressive mouth.  I  sat  by  him  at  dinner,  and  by  gradual  and 
dainty  approaches  got  at  the  subject  on  which  one  most  wished 
to  hear  him  speak.  He  began  very  blushingly,  but  went  on 
to  talk  in  most  delightful  fashion,  with  large  and  luminous  sim- 
plicity, of  some  of  the  vast  mathematical  facts  with  which  he  is 
so  conversant.  The  idea  of  the  reversed  method  of  reasoning, 
from  an  unknown  to  a  known,  with  reference  to  astronomical 
problems,  dawned  on  him  when  an  undergraduate,  with  neither 
time  nor  mathematics  to  work  it  out.  The  opposite  system 
had  always  before  been  adopted.  He,  in  common  with  many 
others,  conceived  that  there  must  be  a  planet  to  account  for 
the  disturbances  of  Uranus  ;  and  when  he  had  time  he  set  to 
work  at  the  process,  in  deep,  quiet  faith  that  the  fact  was 
there,  and  that  his  hitherto  untried  mathematical  path  was 
the  one  which  must  reach  it ;  that  there  were  no  anomalies  in 

*  Adams  (John  Couch),  born  on  the  Bodmin  Moors,  Cornwall,  1817;  edu- 
cated at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  One  of  the  discoverers  of  the  planet 
Neptune.  In  1848  the  Royal  Society  awarded  him  the  Copley  medal,  and  he 
was  made  President  of  the  Astronomical  Society  in  1851. 

21* 


246  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

the  universe,  but  that  even  here,  and  now,  they  could  be  ex- 
plained and  included  in  a  higher  law.  The  delight  of  work- 
ing it  out  was  far  more  than  any  notoriety  could  give,  for  his 
love  of  pure  Truth  is  evidently  intense,  an  inward  necessity, 
unaffected  by  all  the  penny  trumpets  of  the  world.  Well,  at 
length  he  fixed  his  point  in  space,  and  sent  his  mathematical 
evidence  to  Airy,  the  astronomer-royal,  who  locked  the  papers 
up  in  his  desk,  partly  from  carelessness,  partly  from  incredu- 
lity,— for  it  seemed  to  him  improbable  that  a  man  whose 
name  was  unknown  to  him  should  strike  out  such  a  new  path 
in  mathematical  science  with  any  success.  Moreover,  his 
theory  was  that  if  there  were  a  planet  it  could  not  be  discovered 
for  one  hundred  and  sixty  years, — that  is,  until  two  revolutions 
of  Uranus  had  been  accomplished.  Then  came  Leverrier's* 
equally  original,  though  many  months  younger,  demonstra- 
tion; Gall's  immediate  verification  of  it  by  observation  ;  and 
then  the  astronomers  were  all  astir.  Professor  Adams  speaks 
of  those,  about  whom  the  English  scientific  world  is  so  indig- 
nant, in  a  spirit  of  Christian  philosophy  exactly  in  keeping 
with  the  mind  of  a  man  who  had  discovered  a  planet.  He 
speaks  with  warmest  admiration  of  Leverrier,  specially  of  his 
exhaustive  method  of  making  out  the  orbits  of  the  comets, 
imagining  and  disproving  all  tracks  but  the  right  one, — a  work 
of  infinite  labor.  If  the  observer  could  make  out  distinctly 
but  a  very  small  part  of  a  comet's  orbit,  the  mathematician 
would  be  able  to  prove  what  its  course  had  been  through  all 
time.  They  enjoyed  being  a  good  deal  together  at  the  Brit- 
ish Association  Meeting  at  Oxford,  though  it  was  unfortunate 
for  the  intercourse  of  the  fellow-workers  that  one  could  not 
speak  French  nor  the  other  English.  He  had  met  with  very 


*  Leverrier  (Urban  Jean  Joseph),  born  at  St.  Lo,  France,  1811 ;  made  a 
simultaneous  discovery  with  J.  C.  Adams  of  the  planet  Neptune.  He  printed 
his  observations  before  Adams,  and,  by  some,  was  given  the  first  credit  of  the 
discovery ;  but  there  is  now  no  doubt  that  both  these  eminent  men  arrived  at 
their  conclusions  simultaneously  and  independently  of  each  other.  On  the 
death  of  Arago,  Leverrier  succeeded  him  as  Astronomer  to  the  Bureau  de 
Longitude.  He  died  September  23,  1877. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  247 

little  mathematical  sympathy,  except  from  Challice  of  the 
Cambridge  Observatory  ;  but  when  his  result  was  announced, 
there  was  noise  enough  and  to  spare.  He  was  -always  fond 
of  star-gazing  and  speculating,  and  is  already  on  the  watch 
for  another  planet.  One  moon  has  already  been  seen  at 
Liverpool  wandering  round  Neptune.  Papa  suggested  to  him 
the  singularity  of  the  nodes  of  the  planets  being  mostly  in 
nearly  the  same  signs  of  the  zodiac,  a  matter  which  he  has 
not  considered,  but  means  to  look  into. 

Burnard  told  us  that  when  Professor  Adams  came  from  Cam- 
bridge to  visit  his  relations  in  Cornwall  he  was  employed  to 
sell  sheep  for  his  father  at  a  fair.  He  is  a  most  good  son  and 
neighbor,  and  watchful  in  the  performance  of  small  acts  of 
thoughtful  kindness. 

"  The  more  by  thought  thou  leav'st  the  crowd  behind. 
Draw  near  by  deeper  love  to  all  thy  kind." 

October  8. — Professor  Adams's  talk  yesterday  did  me  great 
good,  showing  in  living  clearness  how  apparent  anomalies  get 
included  and  justified  in  a  larger  law.  There  are  no  anomalies, 
and  I  can  wait  until  all  the  conflicts  of  time  are  reconciled  in 
the  love  and  light  of  heaven. 

October  12. — Burnard  tells  amusing  stories  of  his  brother 
sculptors,  and  their  devices  to  hide  their  ignorance  on  cer- 
tain questions.  Chantrey,  after  sustaining  a  learned  conver- 
sation with  Lord  Melbourne  to  his  extremest  limits,  saved  his 
credit  by,  "  Would  your  Lordship  kindly  turn  your  head  on 
the  other  side  and  shut  your  mouth?"  Spoke  of  Bacon,  the 
sculptor,  after  having  given  up  his  craft  for  twenty-five  years, 
resuming  it,  at  the  request  of  his  dying  daughter,  to  make  her 
monument,  and  finding  himself  as  much  at  home  with  his 
tools  as  ever. 

December  3. — Long  letter  from  Julius  Hare,  detailing  dif- 
ficulties in  the  Sterling  memoir,  which  we  had  foreseen  and 
could  well  enter  into.  He  seems  almost  forced  to  publish 
more  than  he  would  wish,  in  order  to  leave  Mill  and  Carlyle 
no  pretext  for  an  opposition  portrait. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
1848. 

"  Our  age  is  but  the  falling  of  a  leaf, 

A  dropping  tear. 

We  have  not  time  to  sport  away  the  hours : 
All  must  be  earnest  in  a  world  like  ours." — H.  BONAR. 

Falmouth,  January  4. — Such  a  beautiful  day  that  one  felt 
quite  confused  how  to  make  the  most  of  it,  and  accordingly 
frittered  it  away. 

January  25. — Most  animated  visit  from  W.  Cocks.  Li- 
thography, benevolence,  anatomy,  and  religion  were  all  un- 
packed, arranged,  systematized,  and  lectured  upon,  with  keen 
insight  and  most  lively  illustration.  His  parting  words,  after 
mentioning  his  present  ill  health,  his  "butter-headed  condi- 
tion," were,  "When  I  am  called  to  appear  before  God  Al- 
mighty, I  shall  not  go  in  the  character  of  an  apothecary's 
shop  ;  no,  no  medicine,  thank  you  !" 

This  evening  Archdeacon  Hare's  "Life  of  John  Sterling" 
arrived.  The  portrait  is  very  unsatisfactory,  the  volumes  full 
of  exquisite  interest,  though  of  a  very  mixed  kind.  Julius 
Hare  has,  I  believe,  done  his  part  admirably  well,  but  F.  D. 
Maurice  has  (by  his  letters)  quite  spoiled  us  for  any  other 
handling  of  such  a  subject. 

February  i. — Read  and  was  thankful  for  Cobden's  speech 
declaring  this  was  not  the  time  to  lose  faith  in  principles  so 
boldly  asserted  and  toiled  for :  now  we  must  prove  that  we 
believe  them,  and  not  shriek  at  the  French  as  a  nation  of 
pirates.  He  read  extracts  from  French  speeches  just  de- 
livered, one  by  a  member  of  the  Chamber,  in  the  best  tone 
of  an  English  peace  advocate. 

February  23. — Clara  Mill  writes  a  brave  note  in  answer  to 
my  cautious  entreaties  (on  her  brother's  then  intention  of 
248 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  249 

writing  a  life  of  John  Sterling)  :  '*  Publish  what  you  will,  and 
all  you  can  :  it  can  only  do  him  honor."  She  is  frightened 
at  the  prospect  of  the  Paris  Reform  Banquet,  lest  it  should 
not  go  off  quietly. 

February  24. — Her  doubt  is  soon  answered  :  the  banquet 
was  forbidden  by  government.  Odillon  Barret  protested  in 
the  Chamber  against  the  interference,  and  placarded  an  en- 
treaty to  the  people  to  be  quiet,  although  they  gave  tip  the 
banquet.  But  they  would  not  be  quiet,  and  crowds  assem- 
bled ;  troops  were  called  out,  collisions  and  slaughter  fol- 
lowed. The  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  Guizot's  house  are  the 
chief  points  of  attack.  I  have  been  so  familiar  of  late  with 
the  French  Revolution,  through  Carlyle  and  Burke,  that  all 
thjs  fills  one  with  a  horrid  dread  of  what  next. 

February  26. — Louis  Philippe  and  Guizot  have  both  abdi- 
cated, and  the  royal  family  have  quitted  Paris.  Arago,  Odil- 
lon, Barrot,  and  Lamartine  are  the  new  administration,  des- 
perately revolutionary.  How  far  will  they  go?  And  how 
long  will  they  last?  The  Tuileries  has  been  taken,  furniture 
thrown  out  of  windows  and  burnt,  and  the  throne  paraded 
through  the  streets.  Uncle  Charles  summing  up  the  recent 
French  rulers :  Louis  XVI.  beheaded,  Louis  XVII.  done 
away  with,  Napoleon  abdicated,  Charles  X.  abdicated,  Louis 
Philippe  abdicated  :  truly  a  most  difficult  people  to  govern. 

February  29. — Due  de  Nemours  and  his  sister  Clementine 
have  arrived  in  London,  without  even  a  change  of  raiment. 
No  news  of  the  king,  Guizot,  or  the  others.  Louis  Bona- 
parte has  reached  France  from  London  to  see  what  is  toward. 
Lord  John  Russell  states  his  determination  not  to  interfere 
with  any  government  which  France  may  deem  most  fitting 
for  herself,  and  Lord  Normanby  remains  in  Paris.  M.  Van 
de  Weyer,  the  Belgian  ambassador,  has  offered  the  royal 
family  his  father-in-law's  house  at  East  Sheen. 

March  4. — Poor  Louis  Philippe  and  his  queen  arrived  at 
Newhaven  ;  they  have  been  skulking  in  different  farms  near 
Eu,  in  strange  disguises.  Guizot,  too,  is  come  :  he  crossed 
from  Ostend  to  Folkestone.  His  safety  is  a  great  comfort. 


250  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

March  8. — Dinner  at  Penmere,  when  who  should  appear 
but  Mr.  Froude  !  The  only  thing  specially  characteristic  of 
his  name  that  fell  from  him  was  a  solemn  recognition  of  the 
vitality  existing  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  or,  rather,  that  if 
the  Pope  succeeds  in  maintaining  his  spiritual  supremacy  in 
conjunction  with  all  these  remarkable  reforms,  it  will  prove 
that  a  real  vitality  must  exist.  He  also  spoke  of  Miss  Agnew's 
second  work,  "  The  Young  Communicant,"  as  likely  to  be  a 
still  more  perplexing  and  influential  book  than  "Geraldine." 

March  18. — Plenty  to  do,  and  plenty  to  love,  and  plenty 
to  pity.  No  one  need  die  of  ennui. 

March  21. — Deep  in  French  politics  for  the  evening:  most 
of  Europe  has  caught  the  infection ;  Metternich  resigns  at 
Vienna,  the  King  of  Prussia  calming  his  people  with  noble 
and  honest-seeming  protestations,  Mitchell  haranguing  and 
printing  in  Dublin,  in  Paris  the  National  Guard  and  the  mob 
at  daggers-drawn.  It  is  a  wild  world,  and  nothing  need  sur- 
prise us. 

May  8. — Old  Samuel  Rundall  has  ended  his  weary  pilgrim- 
age, with  his  old  wife  sitting  by  his  side  :  "  he  departed  as 
one  who  was  glad  of  the  opportunity."  He,  far  more  than 
any  I  have  seen,  carries  one  back  centuries  in  the  history  of 
opinion  and  feeling.  He  was  a  perfect  Quaker  of  the  old 
George  Fox  stamp,  ponderous,  uncompromising,  slow,  unin- 
fluenced by  the  views  of  others,  intensely  one-sided,  with  all 
the  strength  and  weakness  of  that  characteristic  ;  a  man  to 
excite  universal  esteem,  but  no  enthusiasm ;  simple  and  child- 
like in  his  daily  habits,  solemn  and  massive  in  his  ministry; 
that  large  voice  seemed  retained  to  cry,  with  ceaseless  itera- 
tion, "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  Last  of  the 
Puritans,  fare  thee  well !  There  was  a  certain  Johnsonian 
grandeur  about  him,  and  one  would  have  lost  much  insight 
into  a  bygone  time  and  an  obsolete  generation  by  not  having 
known  him. 

May  15. — Read  Carlyle's  article  on  the  "Repeal  of  the 
Union."  Terrible  fun  and  grim  earnest,  such  as  a  United 
or  other  Irishman  would  writhe  under,  it  gives  them  such  an 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  25 1 

intense  glimpse  of  their  smallness,  their  folly,  their  rascality, 
and  their  simple  power  of  botheration  ;  his  words  are  like 
Luther's  half-battles ;  the  extenuated  smaller  animal  seems 
already  half  squelched  under  the  hoof  of  the  much-enduring 
rhinoceros. 

May  23. — Twenty-nine  years  came  to  an  end  with  this  even- 
ing, and  left  me  pondering  on  the  multiform  and  multitudi- 
nous blessings  in  disguise  with  which  I  have  been  acquainted. 
Clad  in  motley  or  in  widow's  weeds,  the  family  likeness  is 
very  perceptible  to  the  patient,  attentive,  and  trustful  observer  : 
therefore  may  our  Father's  will,  and  that  only,  be  done,  even 
unto  the  very  end,  whatever  temporal  suffering  it  may  involve. 

May  27. — Reading  Bacon's  Essays  again,  and  greatly  struck 
by  the  exceeding  worldliness  of  their  aim  ;  of  course  most  pro- 
found and  acute,  but  only  a  prophet  in  so  far  as  he  reveals 
things  as  they  are,  not  at  all  faithfully  stimulating  you  to 
dwell  here  and  now  in  higher  regions  than  the  visible  (I  don't 
mean  only  religiously),  but  not  recommending  the  highest, 
noblest  virtues  as — which  they  most  absolutely  are — the  truest 
wisdom. 

June  i. — Barclay  dined  at  the  Buxtons',  and  met  M.  Guizot 
and  his  daughter,  Arthur  Stanley  and  others.  He  had  much 
chat  with  Guizot  on  French  matters,  who  expects  sharper 
work  in  France,  and  a  collision  between  the  National  Guards 
and  the  National  Workmen. 

September  2. — R.  Buxton  writes  of  a  charming  coterie  she 
has  been  in  at  Lowestoft, — Guizot,  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and 
Baron  Alderson.  Young  Guizot  told  her  of  having  gained 
the  first  prize  at  the  Bourbon  College  this  spring,  but  when 
the  Revolution  came  the  professors  refused  to  give  it.  His 
two  hundred  fellow-students  processed  to  them,  demanding 
justice,  and  the  authorities  had,  after  all,  to  send  the  prize  to 
him  in  England. 

September  5. — Professor  Lloyd  and  his  wife  came  to  stay. 
She  spoke  of  some  one's  dictum  on  Carlyle,  "That  he  had  a 
large  capital  of  faith  not  yet  invested."  Had  a  stroll  with 
the  professor ;  he  was  on  the  heights  where  he  breathes  most 


252  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

freely.  He  spoke  of  a  little  pet  speculation  of  his  own, — of 
the  unity  of  force  which  governs  the  material  universe.  Fara- 
day's theory  of  forces  is  a  sort  of  repetition  of  Boscowitz's, 
which  is  a  charming  bit  of  Berkeleyism.  Talked  on  Fichte's 
character  with  delight,  though  he  was  doomed  to  illustrate 
the  melancholy  truth  that  ontology  is  not  for  man.  On 
Whewell :  his  want  of  humility  one  grand  barrier  to  his  real 
intellectual  elevation,  his  talents  rather  agglomerative  than 
original.  Whately  has  been  lately  very  busy  in  making  out 
that  we  do  more  by  instinct,  and  animals  more  by  reasoning, 
than  had  ever  been  guessed  before.  The  anxiety  about  Sir 
John  Franklin  is  now  almost  despair,  though  he  may  still 
be  in  some  snug  corner  of  Esquimaux-land.  He  hopes  that 
this  will  be  the  last  expedition  of  the  sort. 

September  6. — When  Captain  Ross  was  with  the  Lloyds,  he 
told  them  such  pleasant  things  about  some  of  the  Greenlanders 
who  had  come  under  missionary  influence.  He  had  asked  a 
large  party  to  dine  on  board  his  ship,  and  they  came  in  full 
native  costume,  and  when  they  assembled  at  the  table  they  all 
stood  for  a  while  and  sang  a  Moravian  hymn,  to  the  delighted 
surprise  of  their  hosts.  He  finds  some  vestiges  of  what  he 
supposes  to  be  a  traditional  religion  among  the  most  remote 
Esquimaux,  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  and  an  expectation 
of  a  future  state,  though  this  takes  the  grossest  form  of  enjoy- 
ment,— "plenty  of  whales."  One  of  his  sailors  married  a 
Greenlander,  and  as  she  approached  England  she  was  very 
curious  to  learn  if  seals  were  to  be  found  there.  "  Yes,  a  few, 
but  you  will  hardly  meet  with  them."  This  was  sad ;  how- 
ever, she  tried  the  country  for  a  time,  till  the  mal  du  pays  and 
the  longing  for  seals  seized  her  so  fiercely  that  there  was  no 
comfort  but  in  letting  her  return  home. 

September  7. — When  Humboldt  came  through  Paris  to  see 
the  Lloyds,  he  spoke  of  Elizabeth  Fry  having  been  in  Berlin, 
and  that  she  had  a  religious  service  there,  and  herself  ad- 
dressed the  company,  when,  Humboldt  said,  he  had  the  honor 
of  translating  for  her,  which  was,  he  added,  with  a  twinkling 
sense  of  incongruity,  "  tres-bon pour  mon  dme." 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  253 

September  8. — Professor  Lloyd  told  us  of  Jenny  Lind, 
her  nobility  and  simplicity  of  character.  The  only  time  he 
heard  her  talk  of  her  singing  was  when  she  had  got  up  a  con- 
cert impromptu  for  the  sake  of  a  hospital  which  they  feared 
must  be  abandoned  for  want  of  funds,  whereby  a  large  sum 
was  raised  which  set  things  right  again  ;  he  congratulated  her 
on  the  happiness  it  must  be,  when  she  only  said,  "  Es  ist  schdn 
dass  ich  so  gut  singen  kann  /' ' 

September  9. — He  talked  of  many  of  the  astronomers,  and 
the  extremely  different  way  in  which  they  would  handle  sci- 
entific subjects.  Science  can  be  most  poetically  treated,  and 
most  unpoetically.  When  in  Dublin,  Sir  William  Hamilton 
mentioned  to  Airy  some  striking  mathematical  fact.  He 
paused  a  moment.  "  No,  it  cannot  be  so,"  interposed  Airy. 
Sir  William  mildly  remarked,  "I  have  been  investigating  it 
closely  for  the  last  few  months,  and  cannot  doubt  its  truth." 
"But,"  said  Airy,  "  I've  been  at  it  for  the  last  five  minutes, 
and  cannot  see  it  at  all." 

October  23. — A  wet  day,  and  all  its  luxuries. 

October  24. — A  fine  day,  and  all  its  liabilities. 

October  26. — Read  of  the  thrice-noble  Fichte  till  I  cried, 
for  love  of  him.  Concluded  that  "  My  mind  to  me  a  king- 
dom is"  was  a  masculine  sentiment,  of  which  "My  heart  to 
me  a  kingdom  is"  is  the  feminine.  My  mind,  I  fear,  is  a  re- 
public. Was  also  led  to  consider  that  love  has  no  tense,  it 
must  always  be  now  or  never.  "  More  sublime  than  true, 
grandmamma."  '-'Posterity,  don't  be  impertinent,  or  I'll 
send  you  to  the  nursery." 


C  H  A  P  TJE  R     XV. 
1849. 

"  Our  Lord  God  doth  like  a  printer,  who  setteth  the  letters  backwards ;  we 
see  and  feel  well  his  setting,  but  we  shall  see  the  print  yonder,  in  the  life  to 
come." — LUTHER'S  Table-Talk. 

Penjerrick,  January  8. — M.  H gave  me  some  curious 

and  graphic  particulars  of  an  execution  he  had  attended  for 
purely  moral  purposes.  He  wanted  to  see  the  effect  on  the 
individual  of  the  certainty  of  approaching  death,  and  he  saw 
that  the  fellow  was  reckless,  and  elated  as  a  mob-hero  ;  the 
hangman,  a  little  wretch,  intent  only  on  doing  his  job  neatly  ; 
and  when  he  walked  home,  sickened  at  what  he  had  seen,  he 
heard  one  man  ask  another,  "  Weel,  hast  been  to  th'  hang- 
ing?" "No,  I've  been  at  my  work."  "Why,  thee  never 
dost  go  to  see  any  pleasuring."  Thus  much  for  its  effect  on 
society. 

January  12. — Accounts  reached  us  of  the  "humble  and 
prayerful"  death  of  Hartley  Coleridge.  His  brother  Derwent 
has  been  with  him  three  weeks,  and  had  the  unspeakable 
blessing  of  directing  and  supporting  that  weak  but  humble 
and  loving  spirit  through  its  last  conflicts  with  the  powers  of 
the  world.  Much  is  forever  gone  with  this  radiant  soul,  but 
more  radiance  and  peace  clothe  the  memories  he  leaves  us 
than  those  who  knew  him  dared  to  hope. 

January  18. — Attended  George  Wightwick's  lecture  on 
"Macbeth."  It  was  most  forcibly  done,  and  some  of  the 
criticisms  extremely  valuable.  One  of  his  grand  objects  in 
these  Shakespeare  studies  is  to  correct  the  impression  of  char- 
acters made  by  actors  and  actresses.  Thus,  Lady  Macbeth  is 
always  conceived  as  a  magnificent  unapproachable  *voman, 
— in  fact,  as  Mrs.  Siddons  ;  whilst  he,  and  Mrs.  Siddons  too, 
254 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  '  255 

think  she  was  small,  delicate,  almost  fragile,  with  the  quick- 
est, sharpest  of  ferret  eyes,  as  such  is  the  ordinary  build  of 
women  greatly  gifted  for  intrigue.  The  witches  too,  and 
specially  Hecate,  should  be  wild  unearthly  beings,  not  ugly 
old  women, — Hecate  the  palest  of  ghosts,  with  a  little  spirit 
to  do  her  bidding.  He  thinks  the  gist  of  the  play  to  lie  in 
the  manifold  utterance  of,  "Fair  is  foul,  and  foul  is  fair," — 
a  play  of  wicked  magical  contradictions ;  the  witches  evei 
present  in  spirit,  and  presiding  over  the  double-faced  picture 
of  life.  He  was  ill  with  rheumatism,  but  said  that  an  enthu- 
siastic evening  with  Shakespeare  had  done  him  more  good 
than  all  the  pills  and  rubbings,  and  this,  unlike  any  other 
social  stimulant,  leaves  no  weary  depression  after  it.  On 
being  asked  that  common  question  as  to  your  favorite  among 
Shakespeare's  plays,  he  said,  "  Oh,  the  one  you  know  best." 
That  must  always  be  the  truth  of  the  matter ;  every  time  one 
comes  in  contact  ^vith  Shakespeare  new  visions  arise,  new  in- 
sight into  that  infinite  mind.  But  for  versatility  Wightwick 
selects  the  2d  Part  of  Henry  IV. 

January  21. — Driving  to  Falmouth,  a  pig  attached  itself  to 
the  cortege  and  made  us  even  more  remarkable  than  usual, 
piggy  and  Dory  (the  dog)  scampering  on  side  by  side,  and 
playing  like  frolicsome  children,  spite  of  all  we  could  do  to 
turn  the  incipient  Bacon  back  to  his  former  path  in  life. 

Febmary  4. — Aunt  Charles  read  us  some  striking  letters 
from  Derwent  Coleridge  from  the  Knbbe  whilst  his  brother 
Hartley  was  breathing  forth  his  last  suffering  sighs.  He  had 
much  conflict,  but  they  feel  that  victory  was  achieved,  and 
that  "  what  was  sown  in  weakness  is  raised  in  power."  Der- 
went paints  his  feelings  with  Coleridgean  nicety.  Then  she 
read  a  clever  letter  from  Harriet  Martineau,  combining  the 
smoker,  the  moralist,  the  political  economist,  the  gossip,  and 
the  woman. 

March  i. — Found  a  kindly  note  from  Thomas  Carlyle.  He 
has  seen  "  my  gigantic  countryman,"  Burnard,  and  conceives 
that  there  is  a  real  faculty  in  him  ;  he  gave  him  advice,  and 
says  he  is  the  sort  of  person  whom  he  will  gladly  help  if  he 


256  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

can.  Burnard  forwarded  to  me,  in  great  triumph,  the  fol- 
lowing note  he  had  received  from  Carlyle  with  reference  to  a 
projected  bust  of  Charles  Buller :  "  February  25,  1849.  .  .  . 
Nay,  if  the  conditions  never  mend,  and  you  cannot  get  that 
bust  to  do  at  all,  you  may  find  yet  (as  often  turns  out  in 
life)  that  it  was  better  for  you  you  did  not.  Courage  !  Per- 
sist in  your  career  with  wise  strength,  with  silent  resolution, 
with  manful,  patient,  unconquerable  endeavor ;  and  if  there 
lie  a  talent  in  you  (as  I  think  there  does),  the  gods  will  per- 
mit you  to  develop  it  yet. — Believe  me,  yours  very  sincerely, 
T.  CARLYLE." 

March  12. — Our  friend  Edwards  gave  me  some  private 
memories  of  Emerson.  He  is  most  quiet  in  conversation, 
never  impassioned  ;  his  ordinary  life  is  to  sit  by  a  brook  some 
miles  from  Boston,  and  gaze  on  the  sky  reflected  in  the  water, 
and  dream  out  his  problems  of  existence. 

March  21. — S.  Sutton  came  in,  and  we,  had  a  talk  about 
Anthony  Froude's  astonishing  book,  "  The  Nemesis  of 
Faith,"  which  has  made  an  ugly  stir,  and  has  been  publicly 
burned  at  Oxford,  and  so  on.  I  guess  it  is  a  legitimate  out- 
come of  the  Oxford  party's  own  dealings;  for  I  remember 
how  a  few  years  since  he  was  warmly  associated  with  them, 
soon  afterwards  employed  in  writing  some  of  the  lives  of  the 
saints,  then  by  degrees  growing  disgusted  at  the  falseness  of 
their  modus  operandi.  All  this  must  have  given  what  was  good 
and  Truth-seeking  in  him  a  terrible  shake,  and  now  comes 
out  this  "  Nemesis,"  which  is  a  wild  protest  against  all 
authority,  Divine  and  human. 

April  2. — Read  the  horrid  details  of  Rush's  trial,  and 
felt  bitterly  for  the  poor  chief  witness,  Emily  Sandford, 
who  still  evidently  has  compassion  towards  him,  but  whose 
evidence  will  doubtless  hang  him.  She  lived  formerly  at 
Truro. 

April  6. — Rush's  trial  concluded  as  it  could  not  but  do. 
Baron  Rolfe,  before  pronouncing  sentence,  remarked  that  if 
Rush  had  fulfilled  his  promise  to  poor  Emily  Sandford  and 
married  her,  her  evidence  could  not  have  been  demanded, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  257 

and  thus  the  crime  could  not  have  been  so  mightily  brought 
home  to  him. 

May  5. — William  Ball  staying  with  us.  He  produced 
these  graceful  lines  on  this  passage  in  Anna  Maria's  Journal  : 
"  W.  B.  falls  into  the  ways  of  the  house  capitally"  : 

"  Into  such  ways  who  would  not  fall 

That  ever  rightly  knew  them  ? 

It  were  a  dull  and  wayward  Ball 

That  would  not  roll  into  them. 

"  Ways  by  the  law  of  kindness  made 

To  shine  with  sweet  increase; 

Most  pleasant  ways,  for  overhead 

Are  lights  of  love  and  peace. 

"  Sad  wayfarers,  in  sore  distress 

Of  trouble's  cloudy  day, 
We,  favored,  fell,  our  hearts  confess, 
Loved  Friends^  into  your  way  !  * 

"  God  speed  such  ways  to  heaven's  gate, 

Heaven's  Lord  confessed  in  all. 
In  such  again,  with  lighter  weight, 
May  we,  more  aptly,  fall !" 

Caroline  Fox  to  Mrs.  Lloyd. 

"May  8. — Yesterday  we  parted  with  a  very  remarkable 
little  person  who  has  been  spending  a  few  days  with  us, — 
Dr.  Guggenbiihl,  who  founded  the  institution  for  cretins  on 
the  Abendberg,  near  Interlaken.  Do  go  and  see  him  and  his 
proteges  when  you  are  next  in  Switzerland,  if  the  moral  sub- 
lime is  (as  I  fancy)  more  interesting  to  you  than  the  most 
glorious  scenery.  He  is  a  very  young  man,  highly  educated, 
full  of  sense  as  well  as  soul,  eminently  a  Christian  ;  indeed, 
he  is  quite  a  saint  for  the  nineteenth  century, — uniting  action 
with  thought,  and  explaining  thought  by  action.  His  face  is 
one  of  the  most  serene  and  happy  I  ever  beheld,  expressing 
a  fulness  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  with  all  the  liveliness 
i.nd  simplicity  of  the  Swiss  character.  Moreover,  as  Thomas 
(our  old  servant)  says,  '  He  would  be  very  good-looking  if 

22* 


258  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

the  gentleman  would  but  trim  himself!'  The  offence  in 
Thomas's  eyes  is  long  hair  waving  over  his  shoulders,  mous- 
taches, and  a  cherished  little  beard.  It  has  been  a  real  treat 
to  have  this  striking  little  mortal  among  us,  and  to  learn  from 
his  words  and  acts  lessons  of  self-forgetfulness  and  God-reli- 
ance such  as  England  is  too  busy  and  too  clever  to  furnish. 
He  has  the  great  happiness  of  seeing  three  other  institutions 
of  the  same  sort  already  arising  in  America,  Wiirtemberg,  and 
Sardinia,  in  imitation  of  the  Abendberg ;  and  a  'heavenly 
morning'  passed  among  some  queer  cases,  which  we  got  up 
for  him,  confirmed  his  idea  that  there  is  enough  in  England 
to  justify  the  formation  of  such  a  hospital.  Now,  they  are 
simply  considered  idiots,  and  nothing  is  done  for  them ; 
whereas  were  they  treated  when  young  with  tenderness  and 
wisdom,  first  medically,  then  intellectually,  very  many  might 
become  useful  and  intelligent  members  of  society.  We  hope 
the  subject  "will  be  discussed  and  inquiries  instituted  at  the 
Medical  Section  of  the  Oxford  B.A.  Meeting." 

London,  May  21. — Samuel  Gurney  with  us.  I  never  saw 
him  in  greater  force  than  now, — more  continuous  in  conver- 
sation, more  sunny  and  happy.  Large  and  liberal  he  always 
was,  but  now  he  is  more  mellow  than  ever.  Sunshine  on 
granite  tells  but  half  the  tale  of  the  beaming  cordiality  and 
unflinching  strength  and  energy  of  his  present  countenance. 

May  22. — To  Queen's  College,  to  F.  D.  Maurice's  lecture 
on  Theology.  He  was  much  exhausted  after  it,  for  he  was 
thoroughly  in  earnest ;  but  after  the  refreshment  of  a  cup  of 
tea  he  went  off  with  us  towards  Carlton  Terrace,  talking  with 
his  usual  quiet  depth  and  loving  compassionate  soul  on  things 
and  people  the  most  accordant  and  discordant.  Paid  the 
Bunsens  a  visit  and  lunched  there,  and  visited  the  Chevalier 
in  his  snuggery,  and  enjoyed  his  dramatic,  enthusiastic  read- 
ing of  the  news  that  Rome  is  saved,  and  the  French  frater- 
nizing there  as  fast  as  they  can.  Drove  to  J.  M.  W.  Tur- 
ner's house  in  Queen  Anne's  Street,  and  were  admitted  by 
a  mysterious-looking  old  housekeeper,  a  bent  and  mantled 
figure,  who  might  have  been  yesterday  released  from  a  sarcoph- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  259 

agus.  Well,  she  admitted  us  to  this  dirty,  musty,  neglected 
house,  where  art  and  economy  delight  to  dwell.  In  the 
gallery  was  a  gorgeous  display  of  haunted  dreams  thrown  on 
the  canvas,  rather  in  the  way  of  hints  and  insinuations  than 
real  pictures,  and  yet  the  effect  of  some  was  most  fascinating. 
The  coloring  almost  Venetian,  the  imagination  of  some 
almost  as  grand  as  they  were  vague;  but  I  think  one  great 
pleasure  in  them  is  the  opportunity  they  give  for  trying  to 
find  out  what  he  can  possibly  mean,  and  then  you  hug  your 
own  creative  ingenuity,  whilst  you  pretend  to  be  astonished 
at  Turner's.  This  especially  refers  to  the  Deluge  and  the 
Brazen  Serpent. 

May  25. — Dined  with  the  Gurneys  in  Lombard  Street. 
The  Chevalier  Bunsen,  Elizabeth,  and  others  were  there. 
His  face  and  Samuel  Gurney's  were  fine  studies  of  genial 
humanity.  He  told  us  that  the  deputation  of  Friends  to  Sir 
Robert  Peel  had  much  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  the 
Oregon  question  ;  the  earnestness  of  their  appeal  struck  him 
deeply,  and  he  asked  why  the  American  Friends  did  not  in  the 
same  way  memorialize  their  own  government?  This  he  was 
told  they  had  already  done;  some  of  the  facts  concerning 
America  which  J.  J.  Gurney  was  able  to  give  from  his  own 
knowledge  buttressed  their  arguments  capitally,  and  that 
evening  iiunsen  was  at  Sir  Robert  Peel's,  when  he  and  Lord 
Aberdeen  talked  over  the  matter  in  the  most  satisfactory 
manner,  and  the  business  was  arranged  very  soon  after. 

After  dinner  we  went  with  the  Bunsens  to  the  German 
Hospital,  and  were  charmed  with  the  order,  cleanliness,  and 
comfort  of  the  whole  establishment,  but  above  all  with  the  dear 
Sisters  from  Kaiserswerth,  who  are  in  active  ministry  here  by 
night  and  by  day.  One  of  them,  in  particular,  might  have  sat 
to  Fra  Angelico,  so  seraphic  was  her  face  ;  it  told  of  a  heart 
perfectly  devoted,  and  perfectly  happy  in  its  devotion.  It  was 
good  to  see  the  pleasure  which  the  Chevalier's  visit  gave  to  all 
who  received  it,  and  the  friendly  way  in  which  he  entered  into- 
all  their  concerns.  Much  pleasant  talk  with  him :  he  is  not 
surprised  at  the  outcry  against  Hare  and  Maurice,  because  he 


260  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

knows  the  depth  of  ignorance  and  malice  in  human  nature  to 
be  absolutely  unfathomable  ;  they  have  many  bad  things  in 
Germany;  but  are  spared  the  sorrow  and  shame  of  having  any 
newspaper  which  issues  lies  and  malice  in  the  name  of  the 
God  of  Truth,  the  Prince  of  peace.  "Our  temptations  are 
opposite  ;  you  English  are  in  peril  from  Judaism,  we  from 
Paganism, — the  two  extremes  of  exclusion  and  inclusion. 
Tholuck  is  now  rather  widening  as  well  as  deepening,  and  is 
accordingly  pausing  from  authorship;  he  wrote  '  Guido  and 
Julius'  when  only  twenty  years  of  age."  Bunsen  talked  much 
of  recent  German  politics  ;  the  distressing  conflict  of  mind  in 
which  the  king  has  lately  been.  Peel  considered  his  conduct 
almost  inconceivably  unselfish  in  refusing  the  governorship  of 
the  four  kingdoms  for  so  long,  but  the  king  thought  he  should 
assuredly  involve  Europe  in  war  if  he  were  to  accept  it  before 
the  other  powers  had  acceded ;  this  they  have  now  done,  and 
to-day  is  arranged  for  his  proclamation,  the  beginning  of  a 
great  and  perfectly  new  experiment.  It  is  an  American  fed- 
eral government  adapted  to  monarchical  institutions,  and  the 
extent  of  this  hereditary  protectorate  is  enormous.  The 
Chevalier  is  very  sanguine  about  the  result  of  this  trial.  He 
complains  sadly  of  the  want  of  faith  in  England  ;  people  will 
give  their  money  but  not  themselves  to  God,  so  their  hearts 
continue  cold,  and  they  effect  so  much  less  than  they  might 
do  and  are  called  on  to  do.  He  cannot  go  on  with  his  book 
on  Egypt  till  politics  are  quiet  again.  Speaking  of  the  great 
English  manufacturers,  he  called  them  "  the  feudal  lords  of 
modern  times." 

May  26. — Breakfasted  at  Carlton  Terrace.  Ernest  de  Bun- 
sen  went  off  to-day  to  Coblentz,  to  swell  the  loyal  demon- 
stration in  the  character  of  special  constable.  The  Chevalier, 
in  pointing  out  the  views  from  their  balcony,  made  us  remark 
the  fuss  and  bustle  on  the  one  hand,  whilst  on  the  other, 
where  the  real  work  of  the  nation  is  done, — Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, Board  of  Trade,  Admiralty,  Downing  Street, — all  was 
so  still  and  solemn.  He  complained  of  there  being  too  much 
centralization  among  us;  no  little  alteration  can  be  made  in 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  26i 

a  railroad,  for  instance,  in  Scotland,  but  it  must  be  referred 
to  London  for  all  the  arrangements  of  its  plan. 

F.  D.  Maurice  with  us  in  the  evening.  He  spoke  of  Ed- 
ward Irving,  and  the  blessing  he  proved,  spite  of  all  his  vaga- 
ries. He  awakened  people  from  their  tacit  idolatry  of  systems, 
to  the  sense  of  a  living  Power  amidst  as  well  as  above  them  ; 
John  the  Baptist's  mission  was  to  bid  people  to  repent,  because 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at  hand, — not  near  in  point  of 
time  so  much  as  now  present,  now  around  your  whole  being. 
Stumbled  somehow  on  war.  "Won't  the  world  some  day 
come  to  think  with  us?"  quoth  I.  "They  will  come  to  think 
rightly,"  was  his  reply,  "  no  doubt,  but  perhaps  very  differently 
to  you  or  I."  "  But  would  any  nation  dare  to  attack  another 
which  resolves  under  no  circumstances  to  do  them  anything 
but  kindness?"  "Well,  I  find  that  whenever  I  am  most 
right  I  may  always  expect  to  be  most  bullied,  and  this,  I  sup- 
pose, will  go  on  ;  it  brings  home  to  one  very  strongly  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  '  Woe  unto  you  when  all  men  speak 
well  of  you.'  ' 

Of  Shelley  :  he  said  he  was  a  victim  of  the  want  of  sym- 
pathy;  some  one  had  remarked,  he  disbelieved  in  the  devil, 
not  in  God.  The  God  of  love  had  never  been  revealed  to 
him,  and  the  powers  that  were  had  done  everything  to  veil 
Him  from  that  glowing  heart,  so  that  in  his  despair  he  had 
conjured  up  a  power  of  evil,  an  almighty  malignity,  and  sup- 
posed that  he  it  was  which  men  worshipped. 

June  i. — Went  to  call  on  poor  Lady  Franklin,  who  was  out. 
She  spends  most  of  her  days  in  a  room  she  has  taken  in  Spring 
Gardens,  where  she  sees  all  the  people  who  can  tell  or  suggest 
anything.  She  is  just  going  to  America,  which  is  thought 
very  good  for  her,  as  she  is  in  such  a  restless,  excited  state  of 
feeling  as  almost  to  disorder  her  mind. 

June  5. — Went  to  Harley  Street  to  hear  Maurice's  lecture. 
It  was  so  full  and  solemn  that  it  left  us  all  trembling  with 
emotion.  Then  we  passed  into  the  presence  of  Richard 
Trench,  whose  great  sorrowful  face  seemed  to  fill  the  room. 
We  sat  round  a  table  with  about  thirty  young  disciples,  and 


262  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

listened  to  his  comments  on  the  chapter  of  St.  John  which 
was  then  read. 

June  7. — The  Buxtons,  the  Guizot  party  and  their  friend, 
Mademoiselle  Chabot-Latour,  came  here,  and  we  went  to- 
gether to  the  Joseph  Frys  at  Flasket  Cottage, — a  long  and 
interesting  drive.  Mademoiselle  Latour  was  born  in  prison 
during  the  former  Revolution,  just  after  her  father  had  been  be- 
headed. Old  Madame  Guizot,  who  was  in  attendance  on  her 
imprisoned  husband,  looked  after  the  poor  lying-in  lady,  and 
finally  adopted  the  child,  who  has  turned  out  admirably,  ad- 
dicting herself  to  all  sorts  of  philanthropies,  schools,  etc.,  in 
Paris,  and  renouncing  them  all  to  share  and  soothe  her  friends' 
exile  now.  She  spoke  with  warm  affection  of  the  old  Madame 
Guizot ;  it  was  beautifully  ordered  that  she  should  believe  a 
report  true  that  her  son  had  reached  England  four  days  before 
he  actually  arrived.  Mademoiselle  Chabot-Latour  knew  that 
it  was  false,  but  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  undeceive  the 
dear  old  lady  ;  the  days  were  then  like  months.  Pauline 
Guizot  gave  very  interesting  accounts  of  their  and  their 
father's  escape.  They  left  their  house  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution  and  took  refuge  at  the  houses  of  their  friends, 
and  the  girls  were  very  soon  able  to  come  over  to  England 
with  no  great  difficulty.  Their  brother  came  as  son  to  an 
American  gentleman,  and  began  by  remembering  he  must 
always  tutoyer,  which  he  felt  very  awkward.  "  How  d'ye 
do?"  was  his  entire  stock  of  English,  and  for  a  whole  hour 
he  had  the  fright  of  totally  forgetting  his  assumed  name. 
Their  father  escaped  in  a  woman's  dress,  into  which  he  had  a 
good  deal  of  difficulty  in  insinuating  himself;  and  when  he 
arrived  at  his  friend's  house,  the  portress  looked  into  his  face, 
and  said,  "You  are  M.  Guizot."  "Yes,"  he  said;  "but 
you'll  do  me  no  injury?"  "Certainly  not,"  said  she,  "for 
you've  always  protected  honest  men."  So  she  took  him  up- 
stairs and  hid  him,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  day  entertained 
him  with  an  account  of  the  difficulties  she  and  her  husband 
had  in  bringing  up  their  four  children.  Then  he  was  arrayed 
as  a  livery-servant  and  attached  to  a  gentleman  who  was  in 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  26$ 

anguish  at  his  carrying  his  carpet-bag.  They  had  to  wait  two 
terrible  hours  at  the  railway  station  before  they  could  get  off. 
On  arriving  in  England,  a  railway  director  gave  him  instantly 
the  blessed  news  that  his  daughters  and  all  his  dear  belong- 
ings were  safe.  They  none  of  them  have  any  patience  with 
Lamartine,  thinking  him  an  altogether  would-be  great  man, 
attempting  impossibilities  and  failing  utterly,  yet  still  consid- 
ering himself  the  greatest  of  his  age.  I  had  a  most  interesting 
drive  home  with  Guizot,  his  eldest  daughter,  and  Mademoi- 
selle Cliabot.  He  talked  of  Michelet  and  his  brilliant  powers, 
but  considers  him  rather  mad  now,  as  otherwise  he  must  be  a 
bad  man, — this  not  so  much  to  be  deduced  from  his  writings 
as  from  his  conduct.  He,  too,  is  possessed  with  the  idea  of 
being  called  to  be  immensely  great,  something  .quite  unlike 
his  fellows, — a  sort  of  Mahomet ;  and  because  France  did  not 
see  quite  so  much  in  him  as  he  saw  in  himself,  he  thought  the 
government  must  be  all  wrong  and  concentrating  its  powers 
to  prevent  his  being  duly  recognized.  Spoke  highly  of  his 
"Jeanne  d'Arc,"  but  more  highly  still  of  "  Les  Documents," 
from  which  his  story  is  compiled.  Talked  on  the  state  of  the 
poor  in  England  and  France :  they  have  nothing  like  poor- 
laws,  but  the  poor  are  supported  by  private  charity,  which  is 
found  amply  sufficient;  Then  the  multitude  of  small  allot- 
ments encourage  industry  and  increase  property,  as  well  as 
giving  their  owners  a  happy  sense  of  independence.  In  re- 
gard to  food  and  houses,  they  live  much  less  expensively  than 
the  English,  but  their  clothing  costs  more;  there  is  none  of 
the  accumulation  of  poverty  which  there  is  with  us,  owing  to 
the  proportion  of  agriculturists  to  manufacturers  being  exactly 
the  converse  of  ours,  and  manufacturing  property  being  so 
precarious.  As  for  the  free-trade  question,  he  thinks  it  an 
experiment  which  it  must  take  ten  years  to  determine  upon, 
but  he  inclines  to  think  that  the  farmers  must  suffer  when  they 
would  compete  with  Russia,  Denmark,  and  Holland.  As 
for  Ireland  and  its  woful  problems,  he  can  only  shrug  his 
shoulders,  and  has  no  political  panacea  to  offer.  The  happy 
state  of  the  French  peasants,  he  fears,  is  all  over  for  the 


264  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  fRIENDS. 

present ;  they  have  accounts  of  grievous  distress  from  the 
overturn  of  so  many  regular  sources  of  income.  He  spoke 
of  London  as  the  first  commercial  city  in  the  world,  Liver- 
pool the  second,  New  York  the  third,  and  Marseilles  the 
fourth.  Gazing  at  the  endless  multitude  of  shops,  he  re- 
marked, "  It  looks  as  if  there  were  people  who  had  nothing 
to 'do  but  to  buy."  But  Mademoiselle  Guizot  was  the  really 
interesting  one  :  earnest  and  clear,  her  quiet,  large,  dark  eyes 
set  the  seal  to  every  worthy  word,  and  every  word  was  worthy. 
She  spoke  of  the  solid  education  which  their  father  had  chosen 
for  them,  which  in  France  is  so  rare  that  they  kept  their 
classical  attainments  a  strict  secret.  Dante  is  her  poet, 
and  Vinet  her  theologian,  because  they  are  both  so  "  firm  ;" 
the  Germans  repel  her  because  she  finds  them  so  vague  in 
all  their  thinkings  and  doings.  Vinet  they  knew :  he  was 
very  shy,  but  most  delightful  when  they  could  induce  him 
thoroughly  to  forget  himself.  Now  she  says,  "  I  delight  to 
think  of  him  associating  with  all  the  good  of  all  ages, — angels, 
prophets,  and  apostles, — with  all  their  perfections  and  none 
of  their  imperfections."  She  speaks  of  their  little  Protestant 
community  in  France  as  so  closely  bound  together  by  a  real 
spirit  of  fraternity,  such  as  one  cannot  look  for  in  large  bodies 
as  in  England.  The  French  are  divided  into  two  parties 
only, — Rationalists  and  Evangelicals :  the  former  is  the  larger 
party.  She  is  indignant  at  the  attacks  on  F.  D.  Maurice  and 
Archdeacon  Hare  without  knowing  them  personally,  but  sees 
that  such  people  cannot  look  to  being  understood  in  this 
world.  This  she  has  constantly  to  feel  with  respect  to  her 
father,  in  whom  she  infinitely  delights.  She  assists  him  in 
some  of  his  literary  work :  they  very  much  value  the  present 
rest  for  him,  and  the  opportunity  it  gives  them  of  being  so 
much  more  acquainted  with  him  than  they  ever  were  before. 
In  France,  women  now  take  far  less  part 'in  politics  than  they 
used  to  do,  because  parties  have  for  long  been  too  excitable 
and  distinct  to  be  safely  meddled  with.  Not  a  new  feature ! 
Guizot  is  shorter  than  my  remembrance  of  him  in  1840,  when 
he  was  at  the  meeting  preliminary  to  the  fatal  Niger  Expedi- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  265 

lion  ;  he  looks  about  sixty,  a  face  of  many  furrows,  quiet, 
deep-set,  gray  eyes,  a  thin  expressive  face,  full  of  quiet  sagacity 
though  very  animated  in  conversation,  hands  and  all  taking 
their,  share.  His  little  bit  of  red  ribbon  seems  the  only  relic 
of  official  greatness  left. 

June  8. — We  met  Bunsen  and  Guizot  at  an  out-of-doors 
party  at  the  Frys'.  The  two  politicians  walked  up  and  down 
the  lawn  in  long  and  earnest  discourse;  the  character  of  their 
faces  as  unlike  as  that  of  two  men  whose  objects  in  life  have 
been  in  many  respects  so  similar,  can  well  be  ;  the  French- 
man sagacious,  circumspect,  and  lean  ;  the  German's  ample, 
genial  countenance  spoke  of  trust  in  God,  trust  in  man,  and 
trust  in  himself. 

June  9. — Went  to  Laurence's,  and  he  took  us  to  see  Samuel 
Rogers's  pictures.  He  has  some  capital  drawings,  a  letter  of 
Milton's,  and  the  rooms  are  decorated  with  all  sorts  of  curi- 
osities. A  large  dinner-party  at  Abel  Smith's.  C.  Buxton 
spoke  of  a  day's  shooting  in  Norfolk  with  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
when  he  was  by  far  the  best  shot  of  the  party.  He  talked 
incessantly  of  farming,  and  with  a  knowledge  far  deeper  than 
they  had  met  with  before  :  in  fact,  he  was  the  whole  man  in 
everything,  and  yet  so  cold  and  unapproachable  that  they  felt 
quite  frightened  at  him. 

June  12. — Went  to  the  House  of  Commons  and  heard 
Cobden  bring  on  his  arbitration  motion  to  produce  universal 
peace.  He  has  a  good  face,  and  is  a  clear,  manly  speaker. 
A  French  lady,  who  was  with  us  in  our  little  box,  informed 
us  that  she  was  staying  at  his  house,  that  she  had  travelled 
with  him  and  his  wife  in  Spain,  and  concluded  by  accepting 
him  as  her  standard  of  perfection.  We  were  much  pleased 
with  the  debate  ;  it  showed  that  there  was  much  more  willing- 
ness to  listen  to  moral  argument,  and  much  less  disposition 
to  snub  and  ridicule  such  a  proposal,  than  we  had  expected. 
Lord  Palmerston's  was  a  very  manly  speech.  We  left  whilst 
Milner  Gibson  was  speaking.  . 

June  13. — Steamed  to  Chelsea,  and  paid  Mrs.  Carlyle  a 
humane  little  visit.  I  don't  think  she  roasted  a  single  soul, 

M  23 


266  MEMORIES   OF   OLD   FRIEXDS. 

or  even  body.  She  talked  in  rather  a  melancholy  way  of 
herself  and  of  life  in  general,  professing  that  it  was  only  the 
faith  that  all  things  are  well  put  together — which  all  sensible 
people  must  believe — that  prevents  our  sending  to  the  nearest 
chemist's  shop  for  sixpennyworth  of  arsenic  ;  but  now  one 
just  endures  it  whilst  it  lasts,  and  that  is  all  we  can  do.  We 
said  a  few  modest  words  in  honor  of  existence,  which  she 
answered  by,  "  But  I  can't  enjoy  joy,  as  Henry  Taylor  says. 
He,  however,  cured  this  incapacity  of  his  by  taking  to  him- 
self a  bright  little  wife,  who  first  came  to  him  in  the  way  of 
consolation,  but  has  now  become  real  simple  joy."  Carlyle 
is  sitting  now  to  a  miniature-painter,  and  Samuel  Laurence 
has  been  drawing  her;  she  bargained  with  him  at  starting 
not  to  treat  the  subject  as  an  Italian  artist  had  done,  and 
make  her  a  something  between  St.  Cecilia  and  an  improper 
female.  She  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  own  profile  the  other 
day,  and  it  gave  her  a  great  start,  it  looked  such  a  gloomy 
headachy  creature.  Laurence  she  likes  vastly,  thinking  that 
he  alone  of  artists  has  a  fund  of  unrealized  ideas  :  Richmond 
has  produced  his,  but  with  Laurence  there  is  more  kept  back 
than  what  is  given.  She  talked  with  much  affection  and 
gratitude  of  W.  E.  Forster,  and  cannot  understand  his  not 
marrying  ;  remarking,  "  I  think  he's  the  sort  of  person  that 
would  have  suited  me  very  well."  She  talked  of  the  Sterling 
memoir  by  Julius  Hare,  and  of  Captain  Sterling's  literary 
designs  :  in  these  her  husband  means  to  take  no  part ;  he 
would,  by  doing  so,  get  into  a  controversy  which  he  would 
sooner  avoid  :  had  he  undertaken  the  matter  at  the  begin- 
ning, he  would  have  been  very  short  and  avoided  religious 
questions  altogether. 

June  20. — To  Wandsworth,  and  met  Elihu  Burritt  at  din- 
ner. Exceedingly  pleased  with  him ;  his  face  is  strikingly 
beautiful,  delicately  chiselled,  bespeaking  much  refinement 
and  quiet  strength.  He  is  a  natural  gentleman,  and  seems  to 
have  attained  the  blessed  point  of  self- forget  fulness,  springing 
from  ever-present  remembrance  of  better  things.  That  Cob- 
den  evening  was  the  happiest  in  his  life  ;  he  felt  it  a  triumph, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  267 

and  knew  how  it  must  tell  on  Europe  that,  in  the  midst  of 
all  the  wars  and  tumults  of  most  nations,  the  greatest  legis- 
lative body  in  the  world  should  put  all  their  policies  aside 
and  for  hours  be  in  deliberation  on  a  vast  moral  question. 
Cobden  got  a  larger  number  of  votes  than  on  the  introduc- 
tion of  any  other  of  his  great  subjects,  and  yet  he  came  out  of 
the  House,  after  his  speech,  earnestly  apologizing  for  having 
done  so  little  justice  to  their  subject.  "  Punch"  is  acting 
capitally  in  the  matter,  and  has  an  ineffable  picture  of  his 
dream  of  peace,  and  a  serious  caustic  article  as  well. 

July  i. — Edward  Fry  to  tea  ;  very  pleasant,  and  unaffected 
by  all  his  learning  and  college  successes.  Much  talk  on 
Coleridge,  whom  he  values  greatly.  Southey  used  to  be 
vastly  annoyed  by  his  impracticableness.  Some  one  defined 
genius  as  a  sort  of  phosphorescence  throughout  the  character, 
residing  neither  in  the  heart  nor  the  intellect,  but  pervading 
both. 

July  2. — Dined  at  St.  Mark's  College.  Derwent  Coleridge 
talked  on  the  duty  of  dignifying  the  office  of  a  schoolmaster 
and  giving  him  the  hope  of  rising  to  preferment  in  the  Church. 
But  first  they  are  to  act  as  clerks,  to  supplant  those  who  are 
now  so  often  a  drawback  to  the  Establishment.  Once  only 
was  he  quite  overcome  by  one  of  these  worthies.  He  had 
been  dining  at  a  white-bait  party  where  the  toast-master  suc- 
cessively proclaimed  each  toast  behind  the  speaker's  chair; 
and  soon  after,  preaching  at  a  friend's  church,  he  was  startled 
by  hearing  the  responses  and  the  Amen  given  in  the  very 
same  tone  and  twang  which  had  so  lately  uttered,  "Gentle- 
men, fill  your  glasses."  Spoke  of  Macaulay's  brilliant  talk- 
ing, and  large  sacrifices  to  effect  both  in  writing  and  conver- 
sation :  he  is  a  man  of  immense  talent,  not  genius, — talent 
being  defined  as  power  of  adapting  the  acquisitions  of  others, 
genius  as  something  individual.  Mary  Coleridge  told  us 
much  of  Helen  Faucit.  She  is  full  of  strength  and  grace, 
and,  though  cold  in  surface,  there  is  a  burning  Etna  beneath. 
Of  S.  T.  Coleridge  and  her  earliest  intercourse  with  him  : 
when  in  the  midst  of  the  highest  talk  he  would  turn  to  her, 


268  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

smooth  her  hair,  look  into  her  face,  and  say,  "God  bless 
you,  my  pretty  child,  my  pretty  Mary  !"  He  was  most  ten- 
der and  affectionate,  and  always  treated  her  as  if  she  were  six 
years  old.  They  tried  hard  to  bring  him  to  Cornwall,  but  the 
Gilmans  would  not  suffer  it,  though  the  old  man  wished  it 
much ;  and  all  his  family  felt  so  grateful  to  the  Gilmans  for 
having  befriended  him  and  devoted  themselves  to  him  when 
he  was  most  lonely,  that  they  had  not  the  heart  to  insist  on 
any  change,  although  they  begged  Mrs.  Gilman  to  come  with 
him.  Mary  Coleridge  used  to  be  wonder-struck  by  his  talk, 
though  she  could  only  then  carry  away  very  small  portions. 
Derwent  Coleridge  likes  much  the  specimen  which  Julius 
Hare  has  printed,  but  does  not  greatly  regret  that  more  has 
not  been  literally  preserved ;  for  it  is  preserved,  he  says,  in 
living  men  around  us,  whom  it  has  animated  and  almost  in- 
spired. Samuel  Clarke  joined  in,  and  was  very  interesting : 
first  on  art,  on  which  he  seems  to  feel  deeply  and  justly. 
Flaxman's  "  Dante"  entirely  satisfies  him.  Retzsch's  "Chess- 
player" Derwent  Coleridge  thinks  one  of  the  grandest  art 
accomplishments  of  our  age.  S.  Clarke  is  now  sub-principal 
of  the  college,  which  prospers,  and  they  have  most  comfort- 
ing accounts  of  those  they  send  forth.  We  explored  the 
chapel  by  twilight :  it  is  Byzantine  and  very  striking ;  the 
colored  glass,  the  ambulatory  separated  from  the  church  by 
pillars,  and  the  architectural  feeling  throughout,  very  impres- 
sive. They  are  criticised  by  High  and  Low  Church,  because 
they  choose  rather  to  take  their  own  position  than  unite  with 
either  party.  The  ecclesiastical  feeling  of  the  whole  colony, 
combined  with  so  much  of  poetry  and  art,  would  have  ex- 
ceedingly met  the  tendencies  of  that  religious  epicurean,  S.  T. 
Coleridge. 

July  3. — Canon  Rogers  having  presented  us  to  Mr.  Bergam, 
he  kindly  introduced  us  to  the  gem  and  cameo  rooms  at  the 
British  Museum.  Here  was  the  transcendent  Barberini  vase, 
and  the  large  cameo,  probably  of  Paris's  head.  When  the 
British  Museum  prosecuted  the  iconoclast,  it  was  for  breaking 
the  glass  shade  which  covered  the  vase,  which  alone  is  strictly 


JOURNALS    OF  CAROLINE    FOX.  269 

its  property,  as  they  are  only  the  wardens  of  the  vase  for  the 
Portland  family.  Here  are  some  choice  gems,  but  not  yet 
well  arranged,  the  subject  not  being  sufficiently  studied.  Mr. 
Bergam  is  a  great  antiquary,  and  gave  us  so  many  personal 
histories  of  the  things  as  to  add  greatly  to  their  interest.  He 
showed  us  the  Nimrod  ivories,  which  Professor  Owen  saved 
from  powdering  away  by  boiling  in  gelatin.  The  Greek  gold 
ornaments  are  extremely  beautiful  and  elaborate,  some  as  old 
as  Homer ;  the  myrtle-wreath  is  quite  lovely.  He  took  us 
through  the  Egyptian  Gallery  ;  those  old  lions  of  basalt  are 
almost  contemporary  with  Abraham.  On  the  two  sides  of  the 
bust  of  Homer  were  found  the  letters  Gamma  and  Delta, 
which  suggests  the  very  curious  question,  What  poet  could 
have  been  considered  such  anterior  to  him?  One  whose 
works  are  now  altogether  lost  ?  For  the  busts  were  arranged 
alphabetically  in  the  old  Greek  Gallery.  Examined  some 
endlessly  interesting  MSS.  in  the  library,  and  enjoyed  our 
good  friend's  erudition.  Then  we  spent  a  few  more  very 
edifying  hours  with  him  in  his  den,  looking  over  the  magnifi- 
cent series  of  Greek  coins,  on  which  he  lectured  very  lumin- 
ously. The  ^Egerian  are  the  oldest  known, — little  misshapen 
lumps  of  silver,  with  a  beetle  more  or  less  developed  ;  but 
Herodotus  speaks  of  the  Lydian  as  beautiful,  so  they  must  be 
older  still.  The  Syracusan  of  the  best  age  of  art  are  by  far 
the  finest,  some  of  them  exquisite,  with  noble  heads  of  Jupiter, 
Proserpina,  Hercules,  and  Neptune.  It  is  very  curious  that 
the  Athenian  coins  with  the  head  of  Minerva  are  the  least 
beautiful,  even  at  the  noblest  period ;  it  seems  as  though  they 
were  superstitiously  attached  to  some  traditional  notion  of 
their  goddess  :  possibly  it  is  the  head  of  the  old  sacred  wooden 
statue  which  always  reappears.  Alexander's  head  was  never 
stamped  on  coins  during  his  life  ;  but  in  the  time  of  Lysima- 
chus  a  face  very  like  his  appeared  on  the  coins  with  the  horn 
of  Jupiter  Ammon, — in  fact,  altogether  a  divinity.  It  is  emi- 
nently beautiful  and  full  of  fire.  Cleopatra,  it  is  evident,  must 
have  fascinated  rather  by  her  wit  and  conversation  than  by 
her  beauty. 

23* 


270  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

July  4. — We  joined  Professor  Owen  in  his  museum.  He 
showed  us  some  of  the  vertebrae  of  the  genuine  sea-serpent ; 
the  commonly  reported  ones  are  really  a  very  long  species  of 
shark,  and  when  a  pair  are  following  each  other,  and  appear- 
ing from  time  to  time  above  water,  they  look  of  course  won- 
drously  long.  Thirty  feet  is  in  reality  their  general  length, 
but  he  has  had  evidence  of  one  of  sixty  feet.  Gave  a  little 
exposition  of  his  bone  and  limb  theory,  the  repetition  of  the 
same  thing  under  all  sorts  of  modifications.  For  the  arm  of 
a  man,  the  fore-leg  of  a  beast,  the  wing  of  a  bird,  the  fin  of 
a  fish,  there  is  first  one  bone,  this  passes  into  two,  and  ramifies 
into  any  number  necessary,  whether  it  be  a  bat's  wing  for 
flying,  or  a  mole's  paw  for  grubbing.  The  ideal  perfection 
is  most  nearly  approached  by  fishes,  their  construction  being 
the  simplest  and  most  conformable  to  the  perfect  arch.  He 
spoke  of  the  impossibility  of  any  living  creature  capable  of 
existing  in  the  moon,  because  they  must  do  without  air  or 
water,  but,  he  added,  there  is  no  physiological  reason  against 
Ezekiel's  beasts  existing  in  some  of  the  planets. 

F.  Newman  joined  us,  to  show  us  their  new  treasures  of 
Flaxman's  bas-reliefs.  Found  Miss  Denman  there,  the  pre- 
senter, and  sister-in-law  to  Flaxman.  Finding  us  enthusias- 
tically disposed,  she  most  graciously  invited  us  to  go  home 
with  her  and  see  his  most  finished  works.  She  was  very 
communicative  about  him,  as  the  star  which  had  set  in  her 
heaven,  and  it  was  a  most  serene,  mild,  and  radiant  one,  and 
those  who  came  under  its  influence  seemed  to  live  anew  in  a 
Golden  Age.  He  was  ever  ready  with  advice  and  friendship 
for  those  artists  who  needed  it ;  his  wife  was  his  great  helper, 
reading  for  him  in  poetry  and  history,  and  assisting  him  by 
wise  and  earnest  sympathy.  Miss  Denman  would  have  liked 
to  found  a  Flaxman  Gallery  and  leave  it  to  the  nation,  but 
no  fit  freehold  could  be  purchased.  At  her  house  are  choice 
things  indeed, — a  little  world  of  thought,  fancy,  and  feeling, 
"music  wrought  in  stone,"  devotion  expressed  in  form,  har- 
mony, grace,  and  simplicity.  We  saw  the  illustrations  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer, — lovely  young  female  figures  clinging  to 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  271 

their  guardian  angel,  going  out  into  life,  and  saying,  by  every 
look  and  attitude,  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation."  And  the 
"Deliver  us  from  evil"  was  full  of  terror  and  dismay,  but 
yet  of  trust  in  an  Infinite  Deliverer. 

We  looked  in  on  Laurence  on  our  way  home,  and  admired 
his  sketch  of  Aunt  Backhouse,  which  looks  hewn  out  of 
granite. 

Falmouthy  September  4. — Dined  at  Carclew ;  met  Henry 
Hallarn,  his  son  Henry,  and  daughter.  The  historian  is  a 
fine-looking  white-haired  man  of  between  sixty  and  seventy. 
Something  in  the  line  of  feature  reminds  one  of  Cuvier  and 
Goethe,  all  is  so  clear  and  definite.  He  talks  much,  but 
with  no  pedantry,  and  enjoys  a  funny  story  quite  as  much  as 
a  recondite  philological  fact.  He  thinks  the  English  infat- 
uated about  German  critics,  and  showing  it  by  their  indis- 
criminate imitation  of  them,  tasteless  as  he  considers  them. 
Bunsen  does  not  play  the  Niebuhr  with  Egypt,  but  argues 
elaborately  from  the  inscriptions  in  favor  of  the  formerly  re- 
ceived early  history  of  that  country,  that  the  kings  referred 
to  in  the  monuments  were  successive  monarchs,  not  con- 
temporary rulers  of  different  parts  of  Egypt.  Guizot  is  going 
on  quietly  and  happily  in  Normandy,  waiting  till  his  country 
wants  him,  and  meanwhile  continuing  his  English  history 
from  Cromwell, — a  work  likely  to  be  extremely  valuable. 
When  in  London,  he  would  sometimes  ask  his  friends  to 
come  in  an  evening,  and  he  would  read  Racine,  etc.,  to 
them.  His  daughters  were  brought  up  by  their  grandmother, 
who  cherished  their  striking  independence  of  character: 
there  is  danger  of  the  son  studying  too  much ;  he  is  very 
clever  and  very  eager  in  his  nature.  Ledru  Rollin  has  taken 
the  house  next  to  the  one  formerly  Guizot's  at  Brompton,  and 
lives  there  with  his  capital  English  wife.  Sir  Charles  Lemon 
is  just  come  from  Paris,  where  he  finds  them  at  the  theatres 
making  infinite  fun  of  their  pet  republic.  "What  shall  we 
try  next?"  asked  De  Tocqueville  one  evening  when  Sir 
Charles  was  taking  tea  there.  "  Oh,  try  a  queen,  to  be  sure ; 
we  find  it  answer  famously,  and  the  Duchesse  d'Orleans 


272 


MEMORIES   OF   OLD   FRIENDS. 


would  do  it  to  perfection."  The  difficulty  seems  that  they 
would  have  to  alter  the  Salic  law.  Young  Henry  Hallam 
was  breakfasting  somewhere  in  London  with  Louis  Blanc, 
who  for  two  hours  talked  incessantly  and  almost  always  about 
himself.  He  is  a  very  little  man,  and,  though  eloquent  on 
his  one  idea,  gives  you  no  feeling  of  power  or  trustworthiness, 
there  is  so  much  showy  declamation  instead.  Carlyle  was 
there,  and  it  was  the  veriest  fun  to  watch  their  conversation. 
Carlyle's  French  was  a  literal  translation  of  his  own  untrans- 
latable English,  uttered  too  in  his  own  broad  Scotch.  Louis 
Blanc  could  not  at  all  understand  him,  but  would  listen  at- 
tentively and  then  answer  very  wide  of  the  mark.  Henry 
Hallam  is  very  agreeable,  sensible,  and  modest,  and  at 
dinner  asked  if  I  knew  anything  of  a  man  of  whom  he  had 
heard  much,  though  he  had  never  met  him, — Sterling.  He 
spoke  of  the  peculiar  affection  and  loyalty  which  all  who  had 
ever  known  him  at  all  intimately  seemed  to  cherish  towards 
him,  and  their  criticism  on  Hare's  memoir, — that  it  portrayed 
a  mere  bookworm  always  occupied  with  some  abstruse  theo- 
logical problem,  rather  than  the  man  they  delighted  in  for 
his  geniality  and  buoyancy  of  feeling.  Henry  Hallam  knows 
Tennyson  intimately,  who  speaks  with  rapture  of  some  of  the 
Cornish  scenery.  At  one  little  place,  Looe,  where  he  arrived 
in  the  evening,  he  cried,  "Where  is  the  sea?  show  me  the 
sea!"  So  after  the  sea  he  went  stumbling  in  the  dark,  and 
fell  down  and  hurt  his  leg  so  much  that  he  had  to  be  nursed 
for  six  weeks  by  a  surgeon  there,  who  introduced  some  of  his 
friends  to  him,  and  thus  he  got  into  a  class  of  society  totally 
new  to  him  ;  and  when  he  left,  they  gave  him  a  series  of  in- 
troductions, so  that  instead  of  going  to  hotels  he  was  passed 
on  from  town  to  town,  and  abode  with  little  grocers  and 
shopkeepers  along  his  line  of  travel.  He  says  that  he  cannot 
have  better  got  a  true  general  impression  of  the  class,  and 
thinks  the  Cornish  very  superior  to  the  generality.  They  all 
knew  about  Tennyson  and  had  heard  his  poems,  and  one 
miner  hid  behind  a  wall  that  he  might  see  him  !  Tennyson 
hates  being  lionized,  and  even  assumes  bad  health  to  avoid 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  273 

it.  Henry  Hallam  also  knows  Aubrey  de  Vere  well:  his 
conversation  is  extremely  good,  but  no  effect  studied  ;  it  is 
thoroughly  spontaneous.  He  is  a  man  of  genuine  loyalty, 
spite  of  all  his  splendid  indignations  against  England  ;  a 
poetical-looking  man,  and  a  very  delightful  one. 

September  14. — The  Bishop  of  Norwich  is  almost  suddenly 
dead. 

September  23. — Aunt  Backhouse  ministered  at  meeting  very 
strikingly  to  us;  her  prayer  was  quite  grand;  some  of  her 
address  I  occupied  myself  in  arranging  thus  : 

"  Whither  did  thy  Father  lead  thee, 

His  child  to  prove,  to  teach,  to  bless  ? 
Where  with  manna  did  he  feed  thee, 
But  in  the  howling  wilderness  ? 

"  And  in  that  solitude  he  spake 

The  words  of  comfort  deeply  healing, 
Such  words  of  love  and  power  as  make 
The  heart  to  overflow  with  feeling, 

"  Till,  startled  into  love  and  wonder, 

Thy  spirit  sprang  aloft  to  him, 
And  vowed  to  tear  earth's  bands  asunder, 
And  sing  the  song  of  seraphim. 

"  Alas  !  poor  mortal,  proudly  spoken, 

Mistrust  thyself,  or  thou  must  fall ; 
Not  easily  are  earth's  bands  broken, 
Thy  boasted  strength  is  passing  small. 

"  Ah,  thou  hast  proved  it, — deep  the  lesson  ; 

But  yield  not  unto  black  despair  ; 
The  contrite  heart  may  crave  a  blessing, 
Thy  Saviour  waits  to  answer  prayer. 

"  In  humbleness,  and  child-like  meekness, 
Pursue  henceforth  thine  earnest  way  : 
Know  all  the  strength  which  dwells  with  weakness, 
And  calmly  wait  the  opening  day." 

September  26. — Took  Field  Talfourd  to  see  the  Grove  Hill 
pictures,  some  of  which  seemed  to  fascinate  him  :  the  mouth 
he  considers  the  criterion  in  portraits.  Titian,  more  than  any 


274 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


one,  contrives  to  conceal  the  art ;  it  is  not  a  portrait,  but  the 
living  man  gazing  at  you  mysteriously  from  the  canvas,  from 
a  deep  invisible  darkness,  for  you  have  no  background  in  his 
pictures.  He  thinks  very  highly  of  the  domestic  virtues  of 
artists,  and  says  their  lives  are  full  of  such  traits  of  thoughtful 
tenderness.  He  thinks  Ruskin's  book  the  most  wonderful  and 
pregnant  that  he  has  ever  seen  on  art.  He  spoke  of  taste  as 
an  absolute  law,  independent  of,  and  hovering  far  beyond,  the 
man  of  taste ;  also  of  poetry  and  ideas  as  the  absolutely  real, 
of  which  all  visible  things  are  but  the  accidental  draperies. 

October  10. — Reading  "  Mary  Barton  ;"  a  most  stirring 
book,  which  ought  to  stimulate  one  in  many  ways  to  a  wiser 
sympathy  with  others,  whose  woful  circumstances  are  apt  to 
beget  bitter  thoughts  and  mad  deeds.  It  opens  the  very 
flood-gates  of  sympathy,  yet  directs  it  into  its  wisest  channel. 

October  17. — Heard  of  a  poor  woman  in  Windsor  Forest 
who  was  asked  if  she  did  not  feel  lonely  in  that  exceeding 
isolation.  "  Oh,  no  !  for  Faith  closes  the  door  at  night,  and 
Mercy  opens  it  in  the  morning." 

October  25. — We  attended  a  very  good  lecture  on  Female 
Influence,  by  Clara  Balfour,  at  the  Polytechnic  Hall.  There 
was  nothing  to  annoy  by  its  assumptions  for  our  sex ;  and 
even  in  the  perilous  act  of  lecturing  the  lady  did  not  unsex 
herself.  She  started  with  a  critique  on  the  idea  of  education 
as  applied  to  women, — a  culture  of  the  surface  rather  than  a 
sowing  and  nourishing  of  principles.  Women  especially,  not 
having  such  imperative  calls  into  the  outward  world,  and  having 
more  leisure  than  men,  should  be  taught  to  use  that  leisure 
well  and  wisely,  and  should  be  stored  with  subjects  of  interest 
for -their  many  lonely  hours.  A  really  good  and  solid  educa- 
tion does  but  enable  a  woman  to  perform  the  most  trifling 
duties  of  domestic  life  more  thoroughly  well,  and  why  should 
it  make  her  more  vain  and  pedantic  than  an  equally  educated 
man  ?  If  it  be  because  it  is  so  much  rarer,  surely  that  is  but 
a  strong  argument  for  making  it  as  general  as  possible.  It  is 
curious  that  men  expect  from  women  a  higher  standard  of 
morals  and  manners  than  they  think  necessary  for  themselves, 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  275 

and  yet  almost  deny  them  the  faculty  of  taking  cognizance 
of  moral  questions. 

She  spoke  well  on  the  responsibility  women  have,  of  giving 
the  tone  to  the  morals  and  manners  of  the  circles  they  live 
in,  and  remarked  that  almost  as  much  harm  resulted  from  the 
supineness  of  the  virtuous  as  from  the  downright  wickedness 
of  the  vicious.  She  showed  how  women  had  influenced 
national  character.  In  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  for  instance, 
the  very  literature  of  the  age  is  corrupt ;  that,  in  Turkey  and 
the  East,  men  are  the  dreary,  indolent  creatures  which  one 
might  expect  from  the  condition  of  their  wives  and  mothers; 
how,  in  fact,  whenever  woman  is  made  either  the  idol  or  the 
slave,  instead  of  the  helpmeet,  of  man,  the  sin  and  the  shame 
react  abundantly  on  himself. 

The  Greeks  show  that  they  have  no  true  conception  of  the 
noblest  female  character  by  their  ideal  goddesses  and  hero- 
ines. That  men  and  women  have  essentially  different  powers 
is  obvious,  but  that  the  one  sex  is  essentially  inferior  to  the 
other  has  yet  to  be  proved.  Officially  subordinate  she  un- 
doubtedly is,  but  subordination  does  not  imply  inferiority  of 
mind  and  character.  The  one  has  powers  of  abstraction  and 
concentration  which  are  most  rare  in  the  other:  but  woman 
has  acuteness,  accuracy  of  observation,  quickness,  play  of 
fancy  and  taste,  as  a  compensation.  As  for  the  female  Shake- 
speares  and  Miltons,  which  men  so  imperiously  demand,  are 
they  of  such  common  growth  among  mankind?  They  are 
the  exceptional  beings  of  earth. 

She  then  referred  to  some  of  the  remarkable  women  in 
Scripture  :  Deborah  was  the  great  exceptional  case  in  our 
sex,  a  righteous  judge  and  prophetess,  under  whom  the  land 
had  rest  forty  years.  Miriam  helped  her  exalted  brethren, 
and  her  song  is  the  second  lyric  composition  recorded  in  the 
world's  annals.  In  Ruth,  woman  showed  her  power  of  en- 
during friendship  to  one  of  her  own  sex;  in  Esther,  her 
patriotism.  Then,  in  the  New  Testament,  woman  had  her 
part  to  enact,  and  was  graciously  enabled  to  do  so  more 
worthily  than  her  stronger  brethren. 


276  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

In  the  annals  of  martyrs,  women  are  not  found  deficient 
in  power  either  to  live  or  die  heroically  for  the  cause  which 
claims  the  loyalty  of  their  whole  souls.  Was  it  not  Bertha, 
the  wife  of  Egbert,  who  invited  Augustine  into  Britain  ?  and, 
another  woman  who  opened  the  path  for  Christian  teaching 
in  Germany?  And  "among  missionaries  of  modern  times,  is 
it  not  given  to  women  to  do  and  to  suffer  as  signally  as  men  ? 
At  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  an  authoress  was  looked 
on  as  a  sort  of  monstrous  indecorum ;  now,  the  worth  of  a 
book  is  inquired  about,  not  the  sex  of  the  writer ;  and  other 
prejudices  may  likewise  become  obsolete. 

She  dwelt,  of  course,  on  the  laws  of  nature  having  ordained 
that  woman  should  be  the  early  educator  of  man ;  should  she 
not,  therefore,  be  by  all  means  assisted  and  encouraged  to  do 
her  work  as  well  and  wisely  as  possible  ?  What  constitutes 
national  prosperity?  Not  wealth  or  commerce  simply,  or 
military  achievements,  but  the  greatest  possible  number  of 
happy,  noble,  and  graceful  homes,  where  the  purest  flame 
burns  brightest  on  the  altar  of  family  love,  and  woman,  with 
her  piety,  forbearance,  and  kindliness  of  soul,  is  permitted  to 
officiate  as  high-priestess.  She  concluded  with  Wordsworth's 
beautiful  little  epitome  of  woman,  and  was  immensely  ap- 
plauded by  her  audience,  from  which  she  had  the  good  sense 
to  escape  at  once,  by  disappearing  from  the  platform. 

October  26. — Clara  Balfour  called  on  us.  She  spoke  a 
good  deal  of  Alexander  Scott,*  who,  after  his  connection 
with  Edward  Irving,  continued  to  officiate  in  the  Scotch 
Church,  until  one  day  he  felt  such  a  stop  in  his  mind  on  the 
subject  of  prayer  that  he  was  unable  to  proceed  at  that 
moment  with  its  expression.  This  he  explained  to  the  aston- 
ished congregation,  and  was  soon  dismissed  from  the  Scotch 
Church,  and  had  his  own  small  but  earnest  and  sincere 
audience  at  Woolwich,  and  then  came  to  London.  Many 


*  Scott  (Alexander-.  See  Mrs.  Oliphant's  "  Life  of  Edward  Irving,"  vol. 
ii.  pp.  28,  29  and  102-111,  for  a  detailed  account  of  the  friendship  and  rupture 
between  these  two  men. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  277 

feel  him  very  vague,  whilst  others  crave  that  a  sort  of  Scott 
system  may  survive  him.  But  we  must  take  the  men  whom 
God  sends  us  and  be  thankful,  without  cutting  and  squaring 
them  like  awkward  tailors  as  we  are.  His  lectures  are  very 
interesting,  the  opening  one  at  the  Bedford  Square  College 
for  Ladies  particularly  so.  He  has  an  infinite  fund  of  dry 
humor,  which  people  seldom  take  in  until  two  minutes  too 
late.  He  argued,  recently,  that  there  could  be  no  question 
as  to  women  being  able  to  reason  with  respect  to  quantity,  but 
it  was  the  quality  of  the  reasoning  that  might  be  improved 
with  advantage,  and  this  he  illustrated  so  pointedly  that  his 
lady  audience  looked  very  grave.  He  called  female  educa- 
tion a  perfectly  untried  experiment,  and  therefore  peculiarly 
interesting. 

I  asked  Clara  Balfour  about  the  effect  of  lecturing.  She 
said  the  work  came  so  gradually  and  without  premeditation 
that  the  way  was  made  easy  for  her.  She  was  thrown  alone 
upon  her  subject  and  carried  through.  She  began  at  a  sort  of 
friendly  party  at  Greenwich  on  a  similar  subject  to  last  even- 
ing's, and  in  all  her  course  she  has  met  with  nothing  but  kind- 
ness. Carlyle  once  asked  her,  "  Well,  Mrs.  Balfour,  have 
you  got  over  your  nervousness  concerning  that  thing  (i.e., 
lecturing)?"  "Oh,  no;  and  I  believe  I  never  shall." 
"I'm  very  glad  to  hear  ye  say  so,"  he  replied.  She  told 
us  pleasant  things  of  Jane  Carlyle, — her  thorough-going  kind- 
ness, without  any  attempt  at  patronage.  Clara  Balfour  was 
very  poor,  and  most  thankfully  assisted  in  correcting  the 
press  for  the  "London  and  Westminster  Review."  Car- 
lyle's  article  on  "  Mirabeau"  fell  to  her  portion  one  day, 
which  haunted  her;  she  disliked  but  was  fascinated  by  it, 
and  had  no  idea  by  whom  it  was  written  :  her  press-correct- 
ing superior  was  a  very  matter-of-fact  man,  who  held  Addison 
the  immutable  standard  in  English  writing,  so  anything  of 
Carlyle's  drove  him  half  mad,  and  he  was  thankful  enough  to 
make  it  over  to  his  subordinate.  Her  temperance  friend,  Mr. 
Dunlop,  is  a  cousin  of  Carlyle's,  and  he  asked  her  if  she  had 
ever  seen  the  "French  Revolution."  "No,  but  she  longed 

24 


278  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

to  do  so."  The  next  day,  to  her  delighted  surprise,  Mrs. 
Carlyle  called  on  her  with  the  volumes  under  her  arm ;  and 
this  was  the  first  of  an  untiring  succession  of  acts  of  kind- 
ness and  consideration.  A  little  before  her  mother  died, 
Jane  Carlyle  yearned  to  go  and  see  her,  but  her  wish  was  op- 
posed;  at  length  she  said,  "go  she  would,  in  spite  of  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil;"  but,  poor  thing,  she  was 
too  late. 

After  tea  we  went  together  to  the  lecture-hall,  which  was 
immensely  crowded.  Her  subject  was  the  Female  Characters 
in  our  Literature,  especially  those  of  Scott.  Imaginative 
literature  she  described  as  generally  showing  the  estimation 
in  which  woman  is  held  at  the  period  ;  thus,  in  Chaucer's 
time  the  patient  Griselda  was  taken  as  the  highest  possibility 
of  female  virtue  and  nobleness, — a  perfect  submission  to  her 
husband,  and  acquiescence  in  his  iniquitous  acts  because  they 
were  his.  Then,  in  the  Elizabethan  age,  Spenser  and  Shake- 
speare have  given  us  the  most  glorious  ideas  of  woman,  not 
only  as  a  creature  of  feeling,  but  one  of  thought,  action,  and 
energy  of  soul.  The  ladies  of  that  day  were  much  given  to 
translating  learned  works.  Then  came  a  long  blank,  when  we 
may  suppose  that  women,  as  well  as  literature,  deteriorated. 
Milton's  Lady  in  "  Comus"  and  his  dignified  as  well  as  grace- 
ful Eve  are,  however,  illustrious  exceptions.  After  this  there 
was  a  ceaseless  flow  of  dull  pastorals  to  Chloe  and  Clorinda 
in  that  most  unpastoral  age  ;  and  Pope*  declared  ex  cathedra 
that  most  women  have  no  character  at  all.  It  must  have  been 
a  great  relief  from  the  stupid  unrealities  of  our  imaginative 
literature  when  Cowper  wrote  his  honest  little  address  to  Mrs. 
Unwin's  knitting-needles,  and  the  wondrous  peasant-poet  of 
Scotland  poured  forth  his  song  to  Bonnie  Jeannie  and  the 
Hieland  Lassie.  Then  came  Scott,  and  for  his  poetic  models 


*"  Men,  some  to  business,  some  to  pleasure  take, 
But  every  woman  is  at  heart  a  rake." — POPE. 

"  Sbouldst  thou  search  the  spacious  world  around, 
Yet  one  good  woman  is  not  to  be  found." — Ibid. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  279 

he  went  back  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and  found  in  Shake- 
speare the  true  poetic  idea  of  woman,  and  adapted  it  to  his  own 
needs.  Clara  Balfour  observed  that  in  Shakespeare  the  char- 
acter is  everything,  often  the  circumstances  in  the  different 
plays  being  very  similar,  but  all  turning  for  instance  on  the 
difference  of  character  between  Desdemona,  Imogen,  and 
Helena,  though  all  alike  suffering  under  their  husbands'  un- 
just suspicions.  In  Scott  the  characters  are  generally  similar, 
but  the  circumstances  everything.  She  gives  him  credit  for 
four  really  original  heroines  :  Flora  Maclvor  (for  which,  how- 
ever, Portia  may  have  given  him  hints),  a  female  politician, 
yet  not  ridiculous,  but  sublime  from  her  moral  dignity  and 
unquestioning  self-devotion  and  singleness  of  purpose;  Re- 
becca, a  truly  grand  figure,  transcending  even  the  prejudices 
of  Shakespeare,  one  who  (unlike  many  in  our  day  !)  could  not 
dispute  for  her  religion,  but  could  die  for  it :  Scott  had  a 
moral  purpose  in  this  character,  he  wished,  by  not  bestowing 
on  her  temporal  success,  to  wean  the  young  especially  from 
low  motives  for  acting  aright;  Diana  Vernon,  for  which  his 
relative  Miss  Cranstoun  was  his  model,  was  to  exhibit  the 
power  of  rising  above  uncongenial  circumstances  and  associa- 
tions, and  to  be  the  thing  which  God  meant  her  to  be  in 
spite  of  them  ;  and  Jeannie  Deans,  the  simplicity  of  whose 
truthful  love  is  even  less  beautiful  in  the  poet's  fiction  than 
in  the  actual  life  of  the  ugly  peasant  maiden.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  her  lecture  Mrs.  Balfour  was  greatly  applauded,  and 
invited  to  come  again. 

November  4. — Finished  that  brilliant,  bitter  book,  "Vanity 
Fair;"  it  shows  great  insight  into  the  intricate  badness  of 
human  nature,  and  draws  a  cruel  sort  of  line  between  moral 
and  intellectual  eminence,  as  if  they  were  most  commonly 
dissociated,  which  I  trust  is  no  true  bill. 

November  8. — Sir  John  Ross  returned.  No  news.  Poor 
Lady  Franklin,  I  wonder  how  much  of  the  Greenland  Report 
she  had  received.  Sir  John's  has  been  a  most  adventurous 
expedition,  walking  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles  over  the 
ice,  and  so  forth. 


280  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

November  10. — Papa  sent  forth  a  magnetic  deflector  to 
L'Abbadie,  the  Basque  African  explorer. 

December  5. — Read  W.  E.  Forster's  manly,  spirited  answer 
to  Macaulay's  libels  on  William  Perm  ;  he  has  most  satisfactory 
contemporary  evidence  to  adduce  in  favor  of  the  fine  old 
moral  hero. 

December  15. — Dora  Lloyd  gives  an  admirable  history  of 
their  German  explorations  among  the  arts  and  the  artists : 
Kaulbach  has  charmed  them  beyond  all  others.  The  Berlin 
professional  society  delightful :  their  former  ideas  on  the  state 
of  religion  there  confirmed ;  Hegel  and  Schelling  are  still 
deemed  true  apostles ;  Humboldt  a  sorry  scoffer,  but  never  to 
the  English. 

December  29. — Aunt  Charles,  writing  of  a  visit  to  the  now 
patriarchal-looking  poet  at  Rydal  Mount,  says,  "  The  gentle 
softened  evening  light  of  his  spirit  is  very  lovely,  and  there  is 
a  quiet  sublimity  about  him  as  he  waits  on  the  shores  of  that 
eternal  world  which  seems  already  to  cast  over  him  some  sense 
of  its  beauty  and  its  peace." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 
1850. 

"  To  lose  these  years  which  worthier  thoughts  require, 
To  lose  that  health  which  should  those  thoughts  inspire." — SAVAGE. 

Falmouth,  February  i. — Heard  many  thoughts  and  things 
of  the  times  discussed  in  the  evening  by  George  Dawson  in 
his  lecture  on  the  tendencies  of  the  age.  It  consisted  of  a 
string  of  weighty  and  brilliantly  illustrated  truths,  which  very 
few  are  in  a  sufficiently  advanced  condition  to  call  truisms. 
He  is  a  little,  black-eyed,  black-haired,  atrabilious-looking 
man,  full  of  energy  and  intensity,  with  an  air  of  despising,  if 
not  defying,  the  happiness  which  he  wished  to  make  us  all 
independent  of. 

March  7. — Dr.  Caspary  very  informing  touching  some  of 
their  great  men.  Humboldt  writes  by  the  watch;  if  a  visitor 
comes  in  he  notes  the  hour  exactly,  and  works  up  the  time 
spent  afterwards.  If  going  out  driving  with  the  king,  he 
makes  his  toilet  very  composedly  in  the  carriage  by  the  side 
of  his  royal  friend.  Tieck  is  not  much  liked  at  court  now,  as 
his  character  is  short  of  perfection.  The  king  when  crown 
prince  was  very  fond  of  him,  and  himself  did  a  good  deal  in 
the  small  literary  line. 

March  27. — Heard  a  lecture  of  Clara  Balfour's  on  Joanna 
of  Naples,  Isabella  of  Castile,  Elizabeth  of  England,  and 
Mary  of  Scotland.  It  was  excessively  well  done,  each  char- 
acter built  up  from  its  first  rudiments,  and  the  special  circum- 
stances of  the  time  duly  taken  into  the  account.  She  showed 
great  delicacy  and  force  in  her  drawing  and  discrimination  of 
character.  Her  contrasted  scenes  were  some  of  them  very 
striking, — Elizabeth's  and  Mary's  death,  for  instance,  when 
she  gave  a  verdict  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

24*  281 


282  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

April  i. — This  evening  Clara  Balfour's  picture-gallery  in- 
cluded Christina  of  Sweden,  Anne  of  England,  Maria  Theresa, 
and  Catherine  of  Russia.  In  the  first  was  exhibited  the  mon- 
strous spectacle  of  a  woman  despising  all  the  characteristics 
of  her  sex,  and  aiming"at  the  opposite  ones;  the  result  was 
not  a  world-prodigy  of  talent,  but  a  second-  or  third-rate 
man,  an  utter  failure.  Her  change  of  religion  is  a  mereyfrfw* 
de  parler,  for  the  first  necessity  was  wanting :  she  had  no 
religion  to  change.  Anne  of  England  was  a  perfect  contrast 
to  her,  entirely  feminine  and  domestic,  yet  her  reign  was  a 
silver  age  of  literature ;  the  first  magazine  appeared  at  that 
time,  under  the  direction. of  Addison  and  Steele,  and  thirty 
thousand  copies  were  issued.  Thus  literature  began  to  be 
diffusive,  and  the  reading  of  the  women  was  now  provided 
for,  which  had  been  before  obstructed  by  the  grossness  of  the 
matter  it  contained.  In  Elizabeth's  reign  the  first  newspaper 
was  started  under  Burleigh's  auspices:  it  was  at  the  time  of 
the  general  panic  concerning  the  Spanish  Armada. 

Clara  Balfour  made  out  her  assertion  well  that  under  female 
sovereigns  literature  had  ever  taken  a  striking  form  and  made 
an  appreciable  progress.  When  men  reign  and  women  gov- 
ern, the  mischief  is  so  mighty  because  the  governing  power 
is  irresponsible.  She  sketched  Maria  Theresa's  history  very 
dramatically,  and  Catherine's  with  great  force  and  a  true 
womanly  shudder.  She  made  this  apology  for  her  bad  hero- 
ines, that  they  had  not  the  blessing  of  a  mother's  care ;  they 
had  either  no  mothers  at  all,  or  worse.  Then  she  very  charm- 
ingly contrasted  the  circumstances  of  our  own  queen,  and 
deduced  from  it  much  of  the  good  and  happiness  already 
associated  with  her  name. 

April  13. — Evening  at  Rosemerryn  ;  Mary  Anne  Birkbeck 
told  me  a  good  deal  about  her  grandmamma,  Lord  Byron's 
Mary  Chaworth.  Lord  Byron  used  often  to  be  with  her,  but 
would  never  sleep  at  Annesley,  saying  that  the  house  felt  as 
if  it  had  a  grudge  against  him.  This  was  owing  to  the  duel 
having  been  fought  by  two  members  of  the  families  in  the 
preceding  generation.  Byron  was  a  very  sulky  boy  of  nine- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  283 

teen,  and  felt  quite  savage  when  she  danced,  because  his 
lameness  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  do  the  same.  She  had 
no  idea  that  his  fancy  for  her  was  anything  serious,  and, 
moreover,  she  had  at  that  time  a  penchant  for  the  Mr.  Musters 
whom  she  married.  He  saw  her  once  again,  when  he  wrote 
in  her  album,  unknown  to  her,  those  touching  lines  which  she 
did  not  discover  until  some  time  afterwards.  Mary  Anne's 
mother  was  that  "  favorite  child"  who  had  its  mother's  eyes. 
When  Newstead  had  to  be  sold,  he  had  the  greatest  horror  of 
Mr.  Musters  buying  it.  The  trees  on  a  certain  hill,  which 
he  alludes  to  in  his  Dream,  have  been  all  cut  down  for  some 
reason  or  other. 

May  5. — Visited  the  Laundry  School.  The  good  teacher 
was  taking  most  patient  pains  with  an  endlessly  stupid  little 
girl,  who  meekly  and  respectfully  whispered  the  most  hetero- 
geneous answers  to  the  simplest  questions.  "Who  did  Adam 
and  Eve  sin  against  when  they  ate  the  fruit?"  "Their 
parents  and  friends,  ma'am."  "  Were  Adam  and  Eve  happy 
when  they  left  the  garden  ?"  "  Holy  and  happy,  ma'am." 

May  24. — My  birthday :  it  seems  as  if  my  future  life 
might  well  be  spent  in  giving  thanks  for  all  the  mercies  of 
the  past. 

June  7. — Tea  with  Barclay  at  the  farm ;  he  was  all  a  host 
could  be  to  his  large  party,  but  a  day  of  pleasure  is  not  half 
so  pleasant  as  other  days. 

June  25. — Met  some  very  pleasant  O'Reillys.  They  knew 
Mezzofanti,  a  little,  bright-eyed,  wiry  man,  who  greeted  them 
in  pure  Milesian,  which  they  knew  only  in  fragments;  then 
he  tried  brogue,  and  succeeded  admirably,  and  then  in  the 
most  perfect  London  English.  Mr.  O'Reilly,  to  puzzle  him, 
talked  slang,  but  only  got  a  volley  of  it  in  return.  He  knew 
sixty-four,  and  talked  forty-eight,  languages.  But  he  told 
them  a  fact  which  gave  moral  interest  to  his  acquirement. 
When  a  young  priest,  he  was  visiting  a  hospital,  and  found  a 
poor  foreign  sailor  dying,  and  longing  to  confess,  but  finding 
no  priest  who  could  understand  him.  The  sadness  of  this 
struck  him,  and  he  turned  his  attention  forthwith  to  languages. 


284  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

September  n. — Much  interested  about  the  mobbing  which 
General  Haynau,  the  Austrian,  got  at  the  Barclays'  brewery 
the  other  day,  when  he  was  most  unhandsomely  whipped  and 
otherwise  outraged  in  memory  of  his  having  flogged  Hunga- 
rian women.  He  has  found  it  expedient  to  leave  England, 
cursing,  doubtless,  the  gallantry  of  the  English  burghers. 

October  2. — Dined  at  Carclew;  met  Professor  Playfair,  son 
of  the  subject  of  the  monument  on  Calton  Hill.  He  is  come 
as  Commissioner  about  the  great  Exhibition  next  year,  and 
tells  wonders  of  their  preparations, — a  great  glass  house  half 
a  mile  long,  containing  eight  miles  of  tables.  He  is  a  clear- 
headed Scotchman,  who  sees  into  and  round  his  subject,  and 
has  the  talent  of  making  other  people  also  say  what  they  really 
mean. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
1851. 

"  I'm  never  merry  when  I  hear  sweet  music." — SHAKESPEARE. 

London,  May  24. — Visited  Ernest  and  Elizabeth  de  Bunsen 
at  Abbey  Lodge,  their  pretty  house  in  Regent's  Park.  They 
gave  us  breakfast  at  eleven,  the  little  Fritz  and  Hilda  acting 
as  kellners.  They  are  soon  expecting  Kestner,  the  Hanoverian 
minister  at  Rome,  and  son  of  Goethe's  Charlotte  ;  he  is  a 
genial  and  kindly  man.  Abeken  is  now  Under-Secretary  of 
State  at  Berlin,  for  he  felt  that  theology  was  not  his  vocation, 
and  he  saw  no  duty  in  perpetuating  an  early  mistake  through 
life.  He  is  so  able  that  everything  is  referred  to  him.  His 
look  and  address  are  quite  repellingly  uncouth,  but  reach  his 
mind  or  heart  and  you  are  fascinated. 

May  27. — Drove  to  the  Lloyds',  and  found  the  dear  old 
Chevalier  Neukomm  there.  We  had  a  capital  talk.  He  is 
an  adept  in  all  the  sciences  of  the  imagination,  including 
phrenology,  mesmerism,  and  homoeopathy,  and  talked  with 
earnest  zeal.  The  lastingness  of  an  individual  conviction  is 
with  him  a  pledge  for  its  truth. 

Whilst  dining  at  Uncle  David's,  Captain  Barclay  of  Ury* 
walked  in.  He  is  so  striking  a  fact  in  the  family  that  one  is 
very  glad  to  have  realized  it  whilst  it  lasts.  It  is  a  decrepit 
fact  now,  for  an  illness  has  much  broken  him  down,  but  there 
is  a  s'ow  quiet  Scotch  sagacity  in  his  look  and  manner  which 
declares  him  quite  up  to  his  present  business  in  London, — 
viz.,  selling  a  vast  gray  horse.  His  conversation  was  not 
memorable,  but  his  great  strength  was  never  supposed  to  lie 
in  that  direction.  He  looks  now  upwards  of  seventy. 


*  Captain  Barclay  of  Ury,  the  celebrated  pedestrian. 

285 


286  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

May  30. — Dined  with  the  Priestmans.  John  Bright  was 
there,  fighting  his  parliamentary  battles  over  again  like  a  bull- 
dog. It  was  quite  curious  to  watch  his  talk  with  his  quiet 
father-in-law. 

June  i. — Anna  Braithwaite  told  us  of  her  last  interview  with 
William  Wordsworth  :  he  spoke  of  having  long  had  a  great 
desire  for  fame,  but  that  that  had  now  all  ceased,  and  his  sole 
desire  was  to  become  "one  of  the  poor  in  spirit"  whom  our 
Lord  had  declared  to  be  blest. 

June  4. — A  charming  story  of  F.  Cunningham,  coming  in 
to  prayers,  just  murmuring  something  about  his  study  being 
on  fire,  and  proceeding  to  read  a  long  chapter  and  make 
equally  long  comments  thereupon.  When  the  reading  was 
over  and  the  fact  became  public,  he  observed,  "  Yes,  I  saw  it 
was  a  little  on  fire  ;  but  I  opened  the  window  on  leaving  the 
room." 

June  5. — Attended  a  Ragged  School  meeting:  Lord  Kin- 
naird  in  the  chair,  instead  of  Lord  Ashley  (who  has  become 
Lord  Shaftesbury  by  his  father's  death).  A  great  deal  of 
good  sense  was  spoken,  and  encouraging  stories  told.  Dr. 
Gumming  was  on  the  platform,  and  made  an  admirable  speech, 
with  perfect  ease,  choice  language,  and  excellent  feeling,  so 
as  to  modify  my  prejudice  against  him  most  notably.  He 
spoke  on  the  mischief  of  controversy,  except  in  such  countries 
where  error  was  the  law,  truth  the  exception,  and  spoke  up 
for  the  high  affirmative  course  in  all  possible  cases.  Described 
the  origin  and  progress  of  the  ragged  schools  in  his  parish, 
and  asked  the  audience  for  five  hundred  pounds,  assuring  them 
that  at  his  chapel  he  always  got  what  he  asked  for,  large  sums 
just  as  easily  as  small  ones;  the  great  thing  being  to  ask 
boldly,  and  you  are  paid  boldly.  He  is  a  younger  man  than 
I  had  expected, — about  thirty-six, — with  dark  hair  and  eyes, 
rather  Jewish,  wearing  spectacles,  and  very  energetic  in  voice 
and  manner. 

June  7. — A  bright  dinner  at  Abbey  Lodge.  Kestner  was 
there, — a  dry,  thin  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  who  looks  as 
if  he  had  had  his  romance  done  for  him  Ion?  before  his  birth. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  287 

He  has  a  most  interesting  correspondence  between  his  mother 
and  Goethe,  who  had  greatly  admired  and  loved  her,  but,  as  she 
was  betrothed  to  his  friend,  he  had  the  prudence  to  retire  from 
the  great  peril  he  felt  himself  in  ;  and  even  after  her  marriage 
he  left  Frankfort  whenever  they  were  coming  there.  These 
experiences,  and  the  awful  death  of  a  friend  who  had  not  been 
so  self-controlled,  were  combined  into  the  Wertherian  ro- 
mance. But  of  all  this  Kestner  said  nothing ;  he  is  quite 
happy  when  talking  of  his  six  Giottos,  the  gems  of  his  col- 
lection. He  says  he  has  learnt  English  in  the  best  way, 
namely,  by  mixing  in  the  best  English  society.  The  Cheva- 
lier and  Madame  Bunsen  were  there,  also  George  de  Bunsen 
the  philologist,  Dr.  Pauli,  Amelia  Opie,  and  others.  The 
Chevalier  and  Dr.  Pauli  were  my  dinner-comrades,  of  whose 
discourse  I  remember  some  fragments.  I  asked  Bunsen's 
opinion  of  the  papal  aggression  stir  which  has  been  raging  in 
England.  He  said,  "The  Roman  scheme  is  such  a  one  as 
would  not  be  submitted  to  for  a  moment  in  other  countries, 
but  simply  on  the  ground  of  politics,  not  of  religion  ;  it  is 
our  lack  of  faith  which  is  inconveniently  brought  home  to  us 
by  questions  of  this  sort,  and  we  rebel  against  the  inference 
rather  than  the  fact  that  systematizing  a  black  and  white  the- 
ology is  a  substitute  for  faith,  not  an  evidence  of  it.  You  are 
excellent  people,  but  very  material ;  you  are  afraid  to  give 
yourselves  up  to  any  teaching  but  what  has  existed  on  parch- 
ment for  hundreds  of  years;  if  an  angel  brought  you  a  new 
truth  direct  from  heaven,  you  would  not  believe  it  till  it  was 
successfully  copied  on  the  parchment :  no,  you  are  excellent 
people,  but  you  terribly  want  faith.  You  are  afraid  of  reason 
and  oppose  it  to  faith,  and  accordingly  miss  them  both."  I 
pleaded  that  they  had  given  us  such  a  fright  in  Germany  by 
their  speculative  vagaries  that  we  had  fallen  back  in  despair 
on  our  practical  existence.  "Ah,  yes,"  he  answered,  "we 
gave  you  a  great  fright  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  didn't 
we?  No;  the  fact  is  that  religion  is  not  a  subject  which 
deeply  interests  you ;  you  are  thoroughly  practical,  and  prac- 
tical politics  are  what  engage  your  thought.  Now,  in  Ger- 


288  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

many,  when  thoughtful  men  meet  casually,  they  soon  get  to 
talking  on  religion  and  theology:  we  talk  of  it  because  we 
think  it  the  most  interesting  of  subjects :  you  at  once  fall 
upon  politics  because  they  are  the  deepest  interests  to  you. 
Sometimes  we  get  into  extravagant  views  of  religion,  but 
your  extravagance  turns  to  Jacobinism, — a  very  characteristic 
national  difference.  You  in  England  so  little  recognize  an 
overruling  Providence  as  directing  the  thoughts  as  well  as 
the  acts  of  men."  I  asserted  our  absolute  belief  in  a  Provi- 
dence legible  in  all  history.  "Oh,  yes,"  he  said,  "you  be- 
lieve in  a  Providence  which  prevents  your  catching  colds,  but 
not  in  one  continuous  luminous  Guide.  You  condemn  research 
in  religious  affairs,  and  are  accordingly  to  be  congratulated  on 
a  most  irrational  faith.  Your  Society  of  Friends  has  done 
much  good,  and  its  founders  have  said  many  admirable  things, 
but  it  wants  vitality.  I  am  very  fond  of  them,  but  I  must 
speak  the  truth  as  I  find  it.  Your  great  peril  is  an  idolatry 
of  the  form  of  formlessness,  instead  of  trusting  the  living 
spirit.  But  you  are  of  vast  practical  importance,  and  will 
still  do  much  if  you  will  but  keep  clear  of  the  traditional 
spirit  of  the  age."  Dr.  Pauli  is  just  bringing  out  a  Life  of 
our  Alfred  :  he  has  found  some  very  precious  MSS.  concern- 
ing him  at  Oxford,  many  of  his  translations  from  monkish 
Latin  poems,  which  were  evidently  first  translated  for  him 
into  easy  Latin  ;  and  one  original  poem,  a  thanksgiving  (I 
think)  for  the  coming  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  into  England  ;  in  which  his  arrival,  etc.,  is 
minutely  described.  I  suggested  the  propriety  of  an  English 
translation  being  published  at  the  same  time,  when  both  my 
gentlemen  waxed  very  scornful  concerning  the  reading  public 
in  England.  No  one  would  read  it  unless  it  had  some  such 
title  as  "  Alfred  the  Great,  or  the  Papal  Aggression  Question 
Considered,"  or  unless  it  had  pictures  of  the  costumes  of  the 
people  running  down  among  the  letter-press  !  Dr.  Pauli  has 
lately  been  in  Germany,  and  was  grieved  at  heart  to  find  the 
state  of  things  there.  Politics  have  become  terribly  earnest, 
and  split  up  families  even  to  the  death  ;  for  they  all  believe 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX,  289 

themselves  on  the  eve  of  a  frightful  struggle,  and  accordingly 
adjourn  all  peace  questions  till  they  have  had  their  fight  out. 
They  grieve  over  the  weakness  of  their  king  in  not  having 
accepted  the  somewhat  democratic  crown  which  was  offered 
him ;  now  they  are  all  under  the  irresponsible  despotism  of 
the  princes.  The  Chevalier  is  interested  in  appending  an 
infant  asylum  to  his  German  hospital,  where  nurses  may  be 
taught  their  duties,  and  the  plan  will,  he  hopes,  spread 
through  England.  They  now  limit  the  services  of  the  Kai- 
serswerth  Sisters  to  two  years,  and  arrange  for  their  being 
greatly  relieved  at  night ;  for  the  dear  good  Fliedner  forgets 
that  human  creatures  are  made  up  of  body  and  soul,  and 
would  totally  sacrifice  the  former.  The  Bunsens  have  been 
deep  in  mesmerism.  The  Chevalier's  theory  of  the  mesmeric 
power  is  that  it  silences  the  sensuous  and  awakens  the  super- 
sensuous  part  of  our  nature, — a  sort  of  faint  shadow  of  death, 
which  does  the  same  work  thoroughly  and  forever.  George 
de  Bunsen  afterwards  gave  me  some  of  his  own  mesmeric  ex- 
periences ;  he  is  a  rigid  reasoner  and  extorter  of  facts.  I 
forget  the  three  absolute  laws  which  he  has  satisfactorily  estab- 
lished, but  here  is  an  experience  of  his  own.  When  he  went 
to  college  and  studied  Greek  history,  he  learned  that  a  book 
of  Aristotle's  on  the  politics  of  his  own  time  was  lost.  He 
mused  on  this  fact,  and  pined  after  the  missing  book,  which 
would  have  shed  such  light  on  his  studies.  It  became  a  per- 
petual haunting  thought,  and  soon  his  air  castle  was  the' find- 
ing of  this  book.  He  would  be  forever  romancing  on  the 
subject,  getting  into  a  monastery,  finding  it  amidst  immense 
masses  of  dusty  books  and  parchments,  then  making  plans  for 
circumventing  the  monks,  rescuing  the  treasure,  etc.  Just 
after  this  excitement  had  been  at  its  maximum,  he  received  a 
letter  from  a  friend,  telling  that  he  had  been  consulting  a 
clairvoyante  about  him,  who  had  seen  him  groping  among 
dusty  parchments  in  the  dark.  It  seems  to  have  established 
a  firm  faith  in  his  mind  in  the  communication  of  spirit  with 
spirit  as  the  real  one  in  mesmerism.  His  opposite  class  of 
facts  was  thus  illustrated.  When  his  father  was  with  his  king 

N  25 


29o  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

and  our  queen  at  Stolzenfels,  he  wanted  to  know  something 
about  him,  and  accordingly  mesmerized  a  clairvoyante,  and 
sent  her  in  spirit  to  the  castle.  "  Do  you  see  my  father  ?" 
"  No,  he  is  not  there."  "  Then  go  and  look  for  him."  At 
length  she  announced  having  found  him  sitting  with  an  elderly 
lady.  George  de  Bunsen  could  not  conceive  him  anywhere 
but  at  Stolzenfels,  till  the  thought  struck  him,  he  may  have 
gone  to  Carlsruhe  to  see  his  sister:  so  he  asked,  "  It  is  a  very 
neat,  regular-looking  town,  is  it  not,  and  the  houses  new?" 
and  asked  particulars  of  the  room  in  which  he  thought  his 
aunt  likely  to  be  found.  "  No,  nothing  of  the  sort ;  an  old 
town,  an  old  house,  and  an  old  lady."  She  gave  many  de- 
tails which  he  could  make  nothing  of,  and  gave  up  the  geo- 
graphical problem  in  despair.  In  a  few  days  a  letter  from  his 
father  arrived,  saying  that  the  king  had  taken  a  fancy  to  go 
somewhere  in  a  steamer,  and  had  asked  Bunsen  to  accom- 
pany him.  This  brought  him  within  a  moderate  distance  of 
another  sister,  whom  he  had  previously  had  no  idea  of  visit- 
ing, and  so  he  was  actually  with  her  at  the  time  of  the  clair- 
voyance. Ernest  and  George  de  Bunsen  sang  gloriously  :  at 
one  time  they  were  nightingales,  the  one  merry,  the  other 
sentimental;  but  George  de  Bunsen's  "Wanderer"  was  be- 
yond all  compare.  Ford,  the  writer  of  the  Hand-Book  of 
Spain,  joined  the  party.  A  son  of  Brandis  was  there,  quiet 
and  silent  as  a  statue ;  and  the  dear  old  Chevalier  Neukomm, 
who  became  rapt  over  the  singing. 

June  9. — Spent  a  charming  evening  at  the  Chevalier  Bun- 
sen's.  They  were  alone,  and  the  Chevalier  talked  much  of 
their  universities  as  compared  with  ours.  His  son  is  going 
to-day  to  take  his  Doctor's  degree,  which  is  just  a  certificate 
that  he  is  able  to  lecture  on  subjects  of  philosophy,  history, 
and  philology.  He  is  much  amused  to  think  how  little  the 
English  universities  educate  for  the  times  we  live  in,  though  he 
rejoices  in  some  of  the  reforms  at  Cambridge  and  Dublin  and 
wishes  all  success  to  the  Government  commission.  But  the 
spirit  of  the  evening  was  Neukomm.  The  inventor  of  a  silver 
lute  of  some  sort  came  to  introduce  his  instrument,  and  its 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  291 

breathings  were  indeed  exquisite;  and  very  marvellous  was  it 
when  the  two  musicians  improvised  together,  just  taking  the 
"  Ranz  des  Vaches"  as  a  motive,  to  hear  how  they  blended 
their  thoughts  and  feelings  in  true  harmony.  But  I  was  glad 
when  the  flute  was  silent  and  Neukomm  poured  out  his  own 
heart  through  the  voice  of  the  organ.  He  led  one  whither  he 
would,  through  regions  of  beauty  and  magnificence,  and  then 
through  quiet  little  valleys,  where  nothing  could  be  heard  but 
the  heart's  whisper, — so  pure,  so  tender,  you  leaned  forward 
to  catch  what  it  said  ;  and  then  you  were  carried  onward 
into  a  spirit-world,  where  all  around  "were  such  things  as 
dreams  are  made  of."  And  then  such  a  swell  of  harmony, 
such  exulting  strains,  would  bespeak  the  presence  and  the 
triumph  of  some  great  idea,  revealing  to  man  more  of  him- 
self and  of  his  Maker.  Then  again  that  trembling  voice, 
"  Can  He  love  such  a  one  as  I  ?"  And  then  the  final  mag- 
nificent swell  of  sound,  triumphing  over  doubt  and  fear 
and  weakness.  I  never  heard  music  without  words  say  half 
as  much  as  I  heard  this  evening,  but  very  likely  I  quite 
misinterpret  its  real  meaning,  for  each  one  must  translate  it 
for  himself. 

June  n. — Went  to  the  Associated  Trades'  Tea  at  St.  Mar- 
tin's Hall.  Our  chairman,  F.  D.  Maurice,  is  at  his  post 
behind  the  urn,  but  he  springs  up  to  welcome  his  friends. 
He  seemed  nervous,  for  there  was  no  arranged  plan  of  the 
evening.  In  listening  to  the  workmen's  speeches,  especially 
Walter  Cooper's  (cousin  to  the  author  of  the  "  Purgatory  of 
Suicides"),  we  could  not  help  feeling  very  thankful  that  such 
fiery  spirits  had  been  brought  under  such  high  and  holy  in- 
fluences, leading  them  to  apprehend  self-sacrifice  as  the  vital 
principle  on  which  all  successful  co-operation  must  be  founded. 
One  hopeful  feature  in  this  associative  experiment  is  that  they 
are  prepared  and  expect  to  make  mistakes  in  application,  but 
the  principles  of  sympathy  and  self-sacrifice  they  hold  by  for- 
ever. Archdeacon  Hare  was  delighted  at  the  spirit  and  genius 
of  some  of  the  speakers  ;  there  was  so  much  of  calm  practical 
wisdom,  so  much  of  applied  Christianity,  humbly  acknowl- 


2p2 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


edging  its  origin,  as  made  it  altogether  a  deeply  interesting 
and  thankworthy  occasion. 

June  12. — Went  to  Thackeray's  lecture  on  the  "Humor- 
ists" at  Willis's  Rooms.  It  was  a  very  large  assembly,  in- 
cluding Mrs.  Carlyle,  Dickens,  Leslie,  and  innumerable  note- 
worthy people.  Thackeray  is  a  much  older-looking  man  than 
I  had  expected  ;  a  square,  powerful  face,  and  most  acute  and 
sparkling  eyes,  grayish  hair  and  eyebrows.  He  reads  in 
a  definite,  rather  dry  manner,  but  makes  you  understand 
thoroughly  what  he  is  about.  The  lecture  was  full  of  point, 
but  the  subject  was  not  a  very  interesting  one,  and  he  tried  to 
fix  our  sympathy  on  his  good-natured,  volatile,  and  frivolous 
hero  rather  more  than  was  meet.  "  Poor  Dick  Steele  !"  one 
ends  with,  as  one  began  ;  and  I  cannot  see,  more  than  I  did 
before,  the  element  of  greatness  in  him. 

June  13. — We  went  to  Faraday's  lecture  on  "  Ozone."  He 
tried  the  various  methods  of  making  ozone  which  Schonbein 
has  already  performed  in  our  kitchen,  and  he  did  them  bril- 
liantly. He  was  entirely  at  his  ease,  both  with  his  audience 
and  his  chemical  apparatus  ;  he  spoke  much  and  well  of  Schon- 
bein, who  now  doubts  whether  ozone  is  an  element,  and  is 
disposed  to  view  it  simply  as  a  condition  of  oxygen,  in  which 
Faraday  evidently  agrees  with  him.  The  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland was  in  the  chair. 

June  27. — Saw  George  Wightwick,  who,  with  wife  and 
other  furniture,  is  just  starting  for  Clifton  to  live.  He 
showed  us  two  portraits  of  himself:  one  by  young  Opie,  so 
good  that  he  says  if  he  saw  a  fly  on  its  nose  he  should  cer- 
tainly scratch  his  own;  the  other  by  Talfourd,  catching  a 
momentary  passionate  gleam  of  dramatic  expression, — a  fine 
abstraction.  Talked  of  Macready  and  his  retirement  from  the 
stage  to  Sherborne,  where  he  is  in  perfect  happiness,  with  wife 
and  children,  and  all  joyousness.  He  begs  Wightwick  some- 
times to  tell  him  something  about  theatrical  matters,  as  he 
hears  naught. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  293 

Caroline  Fox  to  Aunt  Charles  Fox. 

"  Penjerrick,  July  19. — Anna  Maria  says  you  wish  to  see 
this  book  (Carlyle's  '  Life  of  Sterling'),  so  here  it  is.  That 
it.  is  calculated  to  draw  fresh  obloquy  on  the  subject  of  it,  is 
a  very  secondary  consideration  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  book 
likely  to  do  much  harm  to  Carlyle's  wide  enthusiastic  public. 
It  is  painful  enough  to  see  the  memorial  of  his  friend  made 
the  text  for  utterances  and  innuendoes  from  which  one  knows 
that  he  would  now  shrink  even  more  than  ever,  and  God 
alone  can  limit  the  mischief.  But  He  can.  That  the  book 
is  often  brilliant  and  beautiful,  and  more  human-hearted  than 
most  of  Carlyle's,  will  make  it  but  the  more  read,  however 
little  the  world  may  care  for  the  subject  of  the  memoir.  The 
graphic  parts  and  the  portraiture  are  generally  admirable,  but 
not  by  any  means  always  so  :  however,  you  will  judge  for 
yourselves." 

December  3. — Great  news  stirring  in  that  volcanic  Paris. 
The  President  has  dissolved  the  Assembly  and  appealed  to  the 
people  and  the  army ;  he  establishes  universal  suffrage,  and 
has  arrested  his  political  opponents  Cavaignac,  Changarnier, 
Thiers,  and  some  thirty  or  forty  others.  The  French  world 
seems  quite  dazzled  by  his  audacity,  and  is  quiet ;  to  be  sure, 
the  streets  are  thickly  guarded  by  military,  the  opposition 
journals  seized,  and  no  political  meetings  allowed.  How  will 
it  end  ?  Shall  we  have  a  Cromwell  Junior,  or  will  blood  flow 
there  again  like  water?  One  learns  to  give  thanks  for  being 
born  in  England. 

December  29. — C.  Enys  told  us  of  Sir  John  Franklin, 
shortly  before  leaving  home  the  last  time,  lying  on  a  sofa  and 
going  to  sleep.  Lady  Franklin  threw  something  over  his  feet, 
when  he  awoke  in  great  trepidation,  saying,  "  Why,  there's  a 
flag  thrown  over  me:  don't  you  know  that  they  lay  the  union 
jack  over  a  corpse  !" 


25* 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
1852. 

"  The  welcome  news  is  in  the  letter  found; 
It  speaks  itself." — DRYDEN. 

Caroline  Fox  to  Elizabeth  T.  Carne. 

"Penjernck,  April  14,  Easter  Tuesday, — I  wish  I  could  as 
fully  enter  into  the  conclusion  of  thy  sentence,  '  To  me  Easter 
is  an  especially  cheerful  time, — a  remembrance  and  a  pledge 
of  conquest  over  death  in  every  shape.'  I  wish  I  could  always 
feel  it  so;  for  we  may  without  presumption.  But  human 
nature  quails  under  the  shadow  of  death,  when  those  we  dearly 
love  are  called  hence  at  even  such  a  time  as  this.  And  but 
one  Easter  Tuesday  passed  between  the  departure  of  two  most 
attached  sisters  on  this  very  day,  and  as  it  comes  round  year 
by  year  the  human  sorrow  will  not  be  entirely  quenched  in 
the  resurrection  joy. 

"Thanks  many  and  warm  for  thy  dear  little  apropos-of-a- 
scold  note :  I  so  liked  what  thou  said  of  the  caution  which  should 
always  be  observed  in  writing,  because  I  had  never  distinctly 
thought  of  it  before,  and  have  been  grieved  at  being  taken 
quite  au  pied  de  la  lettre  sometimes,  when  I  meant  my  lecture 
to  have  a  smile  and  a  kiss  at  each  end,  and  two  in  the  middle. 

"  Excellent  news,*  first  from  Vigo,  then  from  Lisbon,  has 
set  our  hearts  a  dancing.  They  had  a  long  voyage,  thanks  to 
adverse  winds,  but  suffered  far  less  than  they  or  we  had  feared. 

*  From  her  father  and  his  party,  who  had  been  deputed  by  a  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  to  visit  some  members  of  the  Portuguese  Government  and 
urge  their  keeping  the  treaty  with  England  in  which  they  promised  to  prevent 
the  slave  trade  in  their  African  settlements,  this  promise  being  constantly 
evaded  by  the  traders. 
294 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  295 

They  had  pleasant  fellow-voyagers,  and  were  able  to  read, 
write,  and  draw,  and  digest  deep  draughts  of  Scandinavian 
archaeology  from  the  Portuguese  Minister  to  Denmark  and 
Sweden,  with  whom  they  seem  to  have  fraternized.  They 
were  charmed  with  a  before-six-o'clock  walk  through  Vigo, 
with  the  Atlantic  waves,  with  the  entrance  to  Lisbon,  the 
massive  cypress  grove  in  the  Protestant  cemetery,  and  their 
own  flower-full  garden  and  charming  lodgings.  They  have 
already  received  much  kindness,  and  are  disposed  to  receive 
much  more. 

"Of  slavery  matters  more  anon;  of  course  there  is  not 
much  to  report  on  yet,  but  things  look  cheery  in  some 
quarters. ' ' 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  May  ii. — How  pleasant  it  is  to  go  on  abusing  each  other, 
instead  of  being  always  on  one's  P's  and  Q's,  with  one's  hair 
brushed.and  one's  shoes  on  one's  feet.  But  was  not  that  old 
Druid  circle  itself  a  faith-institution  in  its  day?  Only  the 
idea  has  developed  (!)  of  late  into  orphan  asylums  and  some 
other  things.  Worship  and  sacrifice  those  old  stones  still 
witness  to  ;  but  now,  instead  of  slaying  their  children  on  the 
altar,  a  Higher  than  Thor  or  Woden  has  taught  His  priests 
and  priestesses  to  rescue  them  and  bid  them  live  to  Him. 
Still,  there  was  faith  in  an  invisible  and  almighty  Power,  so 
strong  that  they  were  willing  to  sacrifice  their  dearest  and 
their  best  to  propitiate  it.  With  them,  too,  I  suppose  it  was 
conceived  as  a  question  of  vocation.  The  victim  must  be 
the  appointed  one;  the  day,  the  hour,  auspicious.  Poor 
Druids  !  and  poor  Us  !  on  the  threshold  of  what  confusion 
do  we  stand  continually,  even  with  the  light  of  heaven  shining 
clearly  above  us,  and  the  book  of  our  pilgrimage  in  our  hand. 
But  we  must  be  forever  explaining  and  dogmatizing  and 
speaking  of  the  things  of  God  in  the  words  of  man ;  and  so 
we  have  to  be  rebuked  for  our  presumption,  sometimes  in  one 
way,  sometimes  in  another,  but  always  so  as  most  effectually 
to  humble  our  conceit,  and  make  us  crave  for  others  and  for 


296  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

ourselves  the  indispensable  blessing  of  an  ever-present  Teacher 
and  Guide." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"June  25. — .  .  .  We  have  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  ab- 
solutely best  (excuse  me),  women  in  England  now  staying 
with  us, — sound,  clear-headed,  thoughtful,  religious;  she  has 
performed  the  difficult  duties  of  a  sad-colored  life  with  thank- 
ful and  cheerful  energy,  and  a  blessed  result  in  the  quarter 
which  lay  next  her  heart.  Of  course  she  is  one  of  our  family, 
but  any  one  might  hug  Louisa  Reynolds,  for  she  is  worthy  of 
all  honor  and  love.  It  may  be  very  stimulating  or  very  hum- 
bling to  come  in  contact  with  such  people,  or,  better  still,  it 
may  lead  one  to  forget  self  for  half  an  hour. 

"  There  is  a  slight  movement — such  a  slight  one  thus  far  ! — 
for  engaging  a  true  friend  for  the  navvies  who  may  be  ex- 
pected shortly  to  descend  upon  us.  They  have  been  proved 
by  analytic  experiment  to  be  human  and  malleable,  and  I 
trust  it  may  be  arranged  for  a  wise  Christian  man  to  continue 
to  carry  on  this  class  of  experiment.  .  .  .  Are  you  in  for  any 
election  interests  ?  A  curious  purity-experiment  is  being  tried 
here,  which  a  good  deal  engages  speculative  minds  just  now. 
The  young  candidate,  T.  G.  Baring,  the  subject  or  object  of 
this  experiment,  is  very  popular." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne, 

"  August  ii. — But  thou  dost  not  absolutely  forbid  our  tell- 
ing thee  that  we  do  enter  into  your  sorrow,  .  .  .  and  would 
commend  it  and  you  to  the  compassion  of  Him  who  knows 
all  the  depths,  and  in  His  own  way  and  time  will  either  re- 
lieve the  suffering,  or  else  enable  you  to  bear  it  in  that  deep 
and  awful  and  trustful  submission  to  His  will,  in  which  alone 
the  spirit  can  be  taught  and  strengthened  to  endure.  '  He 
openeth  the  ear  to  discipline,'  and,  oh,  how  endlessly  does 
He  bless  the  docile  learner  ! 

"A  very  dear  friend  of  ours,  who  was  called  on  to  resign 
first  her  husband,  then  one  grown-up  child  after  another,  and 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  297 

who  did  resign  them,  as  one  who  knew  that  her  Lord  loved 
them  more  than  she  could  do,  heard  suddenly  that  her 
youngest  son  had  died  at  Malta  after  a  clay  or  two's  illness. 
The  others  she  had  lost  had  long  known  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness; but  this  youngest, — oh,  this  was  hard  to  bear.  She 
almost  sank  under  it;  still  her  faith  did  not  fail  her;  all  her 
prayers  for  him  could  not  have  been  wasted  ;  what  she  knew 
not  now,  she  might  be  permitted  to  know  hereafter.  And  so, 
though  wellnigh  crushed,  she  would  not  lose  her  confidence 
that  the  hand  of  love  had  mixed  this  cup  also.  About  a 
year  passed,  when  a  little  parcel  reached  her  containing  this 
son's  Bible,  which  he  had  with  him  to  the  last,  and  in  it 
were  many  texts  marked  by  him,  which  spoke  such  comfort 
to  her  heart  as  she  had  little  dreamed  was  ever  meant  for  her. 
"My  dear  Elizabeth,  God  has  fitting  consolation  for  every 
trial,  and  He  will  not  withhold  that  which  is  best  for  you. 
Coleridge  says  in  one  of  his  letters,  '  In  storms  like  these, 
that  shake  the  dwelling  and  make  the  heart  tremble,  there  is 
no  middle  way  between  despair  and  the  yielding  up  the  whole 
spirit  unto  the  guidance  of  faith.'  May  He  who  pities  you  be 
very  near  you  all,  in  this  time  of  earnest  need." 

Dublin,  August  18. — We  landed  safely  on  Dublin  Pier  after 
a  very  pleasant  passage.  A  thunder-storm  marched  grandly 
over  the  Wicklow  Mountains  as  we  approached.  We  soon 
found  ourselves  at  the  Lloyds'  hospitable  home,  the  Chevalier 
Neukomm  being  a  new  feature  among  them. 

August  19. — He  brought  down  to  breakfast  a  little  canon 
he  has  composed  for  the  ceremony  of  to-day, — the  laying  the 
foundation-stone  of  Kilcrony  (the  Lloyds'  new  house).  The 
words  chosen  are,  "  Except  the  Lord  build,"  etc. ;  and  this 
he  has  arranged  for  four  voices.  There  is  a  great  contrast 
between  Professor  Lloyd  and  the  Chevalier  in  their  principle 
of  judgment  on  large  subjects.  The  texts  of  the  latter  are 
from  the  gospel  of  experience,  those  of  the  former  from  the 
New  Testament.  But  Neukomm's  judgment  of  individuals 
is  noble  and  generous,  only  to  the  masses  everywhere  he  de- 


298  MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 

nies  the  guidance  of  any  principle  :  self  interest  and  ambition 
he  thinks  the  motive  power  of  every  national  movement  to 
which  we  would  give  a  higher  origin,  and  he  thinks  he  sees 
distinctly  that  a  nation  is  always  the  worse  for  it.  But  then 
he  lived  for  twenty  years  with  Talleyrand, — twenty  years  of  the 
generous  and  hopeful  believing  part  of  his  life.  He  speaks 
affectionately  of  the  latter,  he  was  so  kind  and  considerate  to 
his  servants,  so  friendly  to  his  friends,  so  devoted  to  France, 
though  true  to  no  Frenchman  and  no  dynasty.  He  cared  not 
at  all  for  music,  but  Neukomm  gave  some  instruction  to  his 
niece.  At  Rome,  Neukomm  became  acquainted  with  the 
Bunsens,  and  what  a  change  of  intimates  it  was  for  him  ! 

Augttst  21. — The  Lloyds  took  us  to  Mullagh  Mast,  where 
Daniel  O'Connell  held  his  last  monster  meeting  just  before 
he  was  arrested  :  it  is  a  large  amphitheatre,  on  very  high 
ground,  commanding  the  view  of  seven  counties. 

August  23. — Went  to  Parsonstown.  Lord  Rosse  was  very 
glad  to  see  the  Lloyds,  and  very  kind  to  all  the  party.  It  was 
a  great  treat  to  see  and  hear  him  among  his  visible  powers, 
all  so  docile  and  obedient,  so  facile  in  their  operations,  so 
grand  in  aim  and  in  attainment.  We  walked  about  in  the  vast 
tube,  much  at  our  ease,  and  examined  the  speculum,  a  dupli- 
cate of  which  lies  in  a  box  close  by  :  it  has  its  own  little  rail- 
road, over  which  it  runs  into  the  cannon's  mouth.  There  are 
small  galleries  for  observers,  with  horizontal  and  vertical 
movements  which  you  can  direct  yourself,  so  as  to  bring  you 
to  the  eye-piece  of  the  leviathan.  This  telescope  takes  cogni- 
zance of  objects  fifteen  degrees  east  and  west  of  the  meridian, 
which  is  more  than  usual  in  large  instruments,  but  observations 
near  the  horizon  are  worth  little,  on  account  of  the  atmos- 
pheric influences.  The  three-and-a-half-foot  telescope  goes 
round  the  whole  circle,  and  there  is  a  third  instrument  at  hand, 
under  cover,  for  the  most  delicate  results.  Then  Lord  and 
Lady  Rosse  showed  us  the  foundry,  the  polishing-shop,  etc., 
and  Professor  Lloyd  gave  the  story  of  the  casting,  under  the 
very  tree  which  caught  fire  on  that  occasion,  and  by  the  oven 
where  the  fiery  flop  was  shut  up  for  six  weeks  to  cool,  before 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  299 

they  could  tell  whether  it  had  succeeded  or  not.  Lord  Rosse's 
presence  of  mind  in  taking  a  sledge-hammer  and  using  it  when 
a  moment  of  hitch  and  despair  arrived  in  the  casting  was  a 
beautiful  feature.  We  had  tea,  and  were  shown  a  multitude 
of  sketches  of  nebulae  taken  on  the  spot.  Sir  David  Brewster 
was  there,  with  his  sagacious  Scotch  face,  and  his  pleasant 
daughter.  Whilst  we  were  over  our  tea,  news  came  of  a 
double  star  being  visible;  so  we  were  soon  on  the  spot  and 
gazing  through  the  second  glass  at  the  exquisite  pair  of  con- 
trasted colored  stars,  blue  and  yellow.  The  night  was  hazy, 
and  the  moon  low  and  dim,  which  was  a  disappointment ; 
but  Lord  Rosse  kindly  showed  us  a  cluster  of  stars  and  a  bit 
of  the  Milky  Way  through  the  great  telescope  :  the  very  move- 
ment of  its  vast  bulk  in  the  darkness  was  a  grand  sight. 
After  the  British  Association,  a  little  party  are  coming  here 
to  inquire  into  the  geology  of  the  moon  and  compare  it  with 
that  of  the  earth,  and  in  six  weeks  Otto  Struve  is  expected, 
when  they  mean  to  begin  gauging  the  heavens.  We  left  after 
midnight,  full  of  delight. 

They  tell  all  manner  of  charming  stories  of  Lord  Rosse  : 
of  his  conduct  as  a  landlord,  his  patriotic  employment  of  a 
multitude  of  people  in  cutting  for  an  artificial  piece  of  water, 
because  work  was  very  scarce  ;  of  his  travelling  in  England 
long  ago  as  Mr.  Parsons,  visiting  a  manufactory,  and  suggest- 
ing a  simpler  method  of  turning,  so  ingenious  that  the  master 
invited  him  to  dinner  and  ended  by  offering  him  the  situa- 
tion of  foreman  in  his  works  ! 

Killarney,  August  25. — This  evening  we  went  into  the 
coffee-room  of  our  hotel,  and  enjoyed  the  minstrelsy  of  old 
Gaudsey  the  piper.  He  is  a  fine  old  fellow  of  eighty-nine, 
blind  to  the  outward,  but  very  open  to  the  inward  glories; 
for  light  and  shadows  sweep  over  his  face  like  cloud  and  sun- 
shine on  a  landscape.  He  is  like  Scott,  and  his  face  tells 
much  of  humor  and  pathos.  He  is  just  come  from  America, 
where  he  has  paid  a  professional  visit  after  listening  to  Jenny 
Lind  in  Dublin.  There  is  something  very  touching  in  the 
remembrance  of  this  old  man,  who  looks  as  if  intended  for 


300 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


higher  things  than  playing  jigs  and  hornpipes  for  dancing 
waiters. 

August  30. — Heard  a  pleasant  story  of  the  origin  of  one  ot 
the  London  ragged  schools.  Miss  Howell  took  a  room  in  a 
miserable  district,  and  had  her  piano  settled  there  ;  as  she 
played,  plenty  of  little  faces  would  come  peering  in,  and  she 
would  ask  them  in  all  together  and  play  on  to  them.  This 
went  on  day  after  day,  until  she  had  some  books  likewise  on 
the  spot,  and  easily  coaxed  her  musical  friends  to  take  a  little 
of  her  teaching,  and  the  school  soon  became  so  large  that  it 
had  to  be  organized  and  placed  under  regular  teachers. 

Belfast,  September  2. — I  was  a  good  deal  with  the  Sabines, 
who  had  a  torrent  of  things  to  tell.  The  fourth  volume  of 
"  Cosmos"  will  be  coming  out  soon.*  Humboldt  sends  Mrs. 
Sabine  sheet  by  sheet  as  it  comes  from  his  printer.  His  flat- 
tering, courtier-like  manner  goes  off  when  you  are  intimate 
with  him,  and  he  honestly  disagrees  with  you  where  he  sees 
cause. 

September  4. — Colonel  Sabine  took  us  into  the  Ethnological 
Section  of  the  British  Association  meeting  whilst  Petermann 
was  reading  his  paper  on  the  amount  of  animal  life  in  the 
Arctic  regions.  As  this  had  close  reference  to  the  probable 
fate  of  Franklin  and  his  party,  the  interest  was  intense.  Mur- 
chison,  Owen,  Sabine,  and  Prince  de  Canino  all  expressed 
themselves  most  earnest  that  the  national  search  should  be 
continued.  It  was  a  great  treat  to  be  present  at  this  discus- 
sion, and  to  watch  the  eager  interest  with  which  they  claimed 
their  friend's  life  from  science  and  from  England.  Canino 
— or  Prince  Bonaparte,  as  he  now  chooses' to  be  called — is  a 
short  man  of  ample  circumference,  a  large  head,  sparkling 
good-humored  eyes,  a  mouth  of  much  mobility,  and  a 
thorough  air  of  bonhommie, 

September  12. — On  a  beautiful  starry  night  we  steamed  into 
Falmouth  Harbor,  which,  with  the  earthly  and  heavenly  lights 


*  Lady  Sabine  gave  us  the  English  translation  of  "  Cosmos,"  which  is  so  well 
known  and  universally  read. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  301 

reflected  on  its  surface,  looked  as  beautiful  as  Cornish  hearts 
could  desire.  And  then  on  reaching  Penjerrick  we  had  a 
welcome  from  our  beloved  ones,  on  whom,  too,  earthly  and 
heavenly  light  shines  visible. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"Penjerrick,  September  16. — It  seems  hard  to  comply  with 
thy  request  and  send  thee  a  gossiping  history  of  our  Irish 
experiences.  .  .  .  But  we  will  not  join  thy  other  well-mean*- 
ing  friends  in  speaking  voiceless  words  of  comfort.  In  His 
own  time  God  Himself  will  be  the  Comforter,  and  till  then, 
deep  and  awful  submission,  '  not  to  a  dead  fate,  but  to  an 
infinitely  loving  will,'  is  the  only  fit  state  for  any  of  us. 

"  But  I  am  going  to  write  about  Ireland, — if  I  can. 

"  We  began  with  an  interesting  visit  to  our  dear  friends  the 
Lloyds,  near  Dublin.  Dr.  Lloyd  is  like  the  most  beautiful 
of  Greek  philosophers,  with  the  purest,  most  loving  Christi- 
anity superadded.  He  dwells  in  regions  where  all  high  things 
meet  and  are  harmonized,  where  music,  mathematics,  and 
metaphysics  find  themselves  but  several  expressions  of  one 
law,  and  the  Lawgiver  the  object  of  our  simplest  faith.  His 
wife  is  a  lovely  young  creature, — a  steady  thinker  where  that 
is  needed,  but  playful,  graceful,  fascinating  with  those  she 
loves.  .  .  . 

"Then  we  had  the  dear  old  Chevalier  Neukomm,  with  his 
aeolian  harps,  and  his  orgues  expressifs,  and  his  glorious  im- 
provisings:  likewise  his  memories  of  the  Haydns,  of  whom 
he  had  learned;  of  Talleyrand,  with  whom  he  had  almost 
lived  for  twenty  years;  of  Niebuhr,  and  Bunsen,  whose  Lon- 
don house  is  his  English  home. 

"  Parsonstown  was  our  first  stopping-place,  and  there  we 
had  a  really  sublime  treat  in  seeing  Lord  Rosse's  telescopes, 
listening  to  his  admirable  explanations  and  histories  of  his 
experiences,  watching  his  honest  manly  face,  seeing  the 
drawings  of  nebulae  and  the  cast  of  a  lunar  crater,  which  are 
the  cherished  pets  of  Lady  Rosse,  and  finally  being  called 
from  our  coffee  by  the  advent  of  a  double  star  on  a  hazy 

26 


302 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


night.  These  we  watched  through  the  three-and-a-half-foot 
telescope,  and  rejoiced  in  their  contrasted  colors  of  blue  and 
yellow.  Then  through  the  monster  (in  the  tube  of  which  we 
all  promenaded  at  once)  we  gazed  at  some  groups  of  stars, 
but  the  moon,  alas  !  was  impenetrably  veiled.  The  easy  yet 
solemn  movement  of  the  vast  machine,  just  visible  in  the 
starlight,  was  in  itself  a  grand  sight,  quite  poetical,  even  in- 
dependently of  its  high  purpose. 

"  From  Parsonstown  to  Killarney,  where  we  spent  two  days 
in  floating  about  amid  different  forms  of  loveliness,  enjoying 
each  other's  enjoyment  almost  as  much  as  our  own.  It  was 
very  delicious,  and  we  took  it  as  idly  as  any  Epicureans  on 
record.  Then  a  peep  at  Cork  and  its  prosperities,  and  the 
very  meritorious  Exhibition  which  is  open  there.  The  show 
of  Irish  resources  of  various  kinds  was  very  cheering  indeed, 
and  the  Art  part  of  the  Exhibition  was  extremely  interesting. 
They  had  often  brought  together  the  earliest  and  latest  work 
of  some  of  their  painters  and  sculptors,  and  left  it  to  thought 
to  fill  up  the  interval. 

"Then  back  to  Dublin,  and  a  happy  visit  to  our  dear  old 
friends  the  Lynes :  Mrs.  Lyne  and  her  daughter  Catherine, 
they  alone  are  left  to  each  other,  the  father  and  nine  children 
being  taken  !  But  their  union  is  but  the  more  intense,  and 
so  unselfish  !  I  have  often  fancied  thee  something  like  Cath- 
erine in  character:  I  wonder  whether  it  would  feel  so  if  you 
met.  They  were  fresh  from  the  Plunkets  in  Connemara,  and 
they  had  no  end  of  beautiful  stories  concerning  the  changes 
of  sentiment  in  that  region,  and  the  evident  consequences  of 
such  changes.  Of  course,  out  of  the  thousands  who  have 
become  Protestant,  many  have  no  courage  for  martyrdom, 
and  act  accordingly;  but  the  multitudes  who  remain  stanch, 
spite  of  whipping,  stoning,  deprivation  of  employment,  and 
often  of  their  cabins  too,  is  really  wonderful.  On  to  Belfast, 
where  we  stayed  with  a  family  of  Friends  before  unknown  to 
us,  but  who  received  and  entertained  us  with  the  most  un- 
limited kindness.  Thou  hast  probably  seen  the  accounts  of 
the  capital  British  Association  meeting  in  the  newspapers,  so 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE    FOX.  303 

I  need  not  go  blundering  through  it.  I  hope  you  have  seen 
Dr.  Robinson's  speech  at  the  end,  which  gave  a  resume  of  the 
greatest  interests  of  the  meeting.  It  was  so  beautiful  !  Owen's 
bone  theory,  Stokes's  revelation  of  the  invisible  outside  ray 
of  the  spectrum  through  the  action  of  sulphate  of  quinine, 
Dr.  Robinson  and  Lord  Rosse  on  the  nebulae  and  telescope, 
and  Colonel  Chesney  on  the  Euphrates  Expedition,  were 
among  the  most  memorable  incidents  of  the  week.  Then  we 
paid  a  visit  to  the  Armagh  Observatory,  and  saw  Saturn  as  we 
had  only  guessed  him  before  ;  and  we  went  to  a  flourishing 
village  which,  five  years  since,  had  been  a  waste,  howling 
wilderness,  but  through  the  high-minded  energy  of  our  excel- 
lent host*  has  grown  into  a  centre  of  civilization  for  the 
whole  neighborhood,  and  a  most  happy,  prosperous  place, 
with  its  immense  linen-factory,  beautiful  schools,  model 
houses  for  workmen,  and  lovely  landscape  of  hill,  valley, 
and  water.  Our  host  is  retiring  from  the  money-making  part 
of  the  affair,  that  he  may  devote  himself  more  entirely  to 
the  moral  and  religious  welfare  of  the  ten  thousand  people 
whom  Providence  has  placed  under  his  and  his  brother's 
guidance. 

"Returned  with  the  Lloyds  for  one  night  to  their  Castle, 
and  then,  steamed  home  over  calm  seas." 

Caroline  Fox  to  J.  M.  Sterling  and  her  sister. 

"  Falmouth,  September  29. — The  story  of  your  journey  was 
very  diverting;  a  severe  test  for  the  equality  and  fraternity 
theory  certainly,  but  it  is  well  to  bring  one's  principles  up 
hardy.  Social  reforms,  born,  nurtured,  and  matured  in  a 
boudoir  are  very  apt  to  die  there  too,  I  fancy. 

"We  are  in  the  thick  of  a  very  pleasant  Polytechnic. 
The  Art  Exhibition  is  better,  they  say,  than  in  any  previous 
year ;  nevertheless  they  have  not  hesitated  to  give  Anna 


*  Mr.  Richardson,  of  Lisburn  and  Besbrook,  near  Newry.  No  public 
house  is  allowed  ip  this  colony  of  four  thousand  people,  with  the  result  of 
peace  and  prosperity  even  at  the  present  time  (1881)  of  national  excitement. 


3°4 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD   FRIENDS. 


Maria  two  bronze  medals, — one  for  a  wave  in  the  Bay  of  Bis- 
cay, the  other  for  her  Lisbon  Sketch-Book;  and,  moreover, 
a  public  compliment  was  paid  them,  which  I  am  almost  apt  to 
fancy  well  deserved.  A  great  attraction  is  a  vast  working 
model  of  a  mine,  which  has  taken  the  poor  man  eight  years 
to  execute  and  cost  him  two  hundred  pounds.  There  are  a 
prodigious  number  of  figures,  all  duly  engaged  in  mining 
operations,  and  most  of  them  with  distinct  movements  of  their 
own.  It  is  extremely  ingenious  and  entertaining. 

"  Yesterday  we  had  a  crowd  of  pleasant  visitors,  too  numer- 
ous to  mention,  but  almost  all  adjourned  early  to  a  Polytech- 
nic conversazione,  where  Uncle  Charles,  J.  Punnett,  and  papa 
held  fortl;  on  various  topics,  much  to  the  edification  of  the 
audience;  and  the  orations  were  interspersed  with  lively  little 
discussions,  when  every  one  felt  free  to  put  in  a  word. 

"  I  wish  you  could  all  see  the  submarine  experiences  of 
Professor  Blank,  which  has  received  a  Polytechnic  medal. 
They  are  deliciously  witty  thoughts,  most  beautifully  executed 
in  little  pen-and-ink  sketches.  The  Professor  has  found  out 
a  plan  of  living  under  water,  and  proceeds  accordingly  with 
his  sketch-book  under  his  arm,  his  camp-stool  in  his  hand, 
and  a  look  of  lively  observation  on  his  countenai.ee.  He 
begins  by  paying  his  court  to  Neptune,  who  receives  him 
graciously  and  regales  him  with  sea-eggs  and  jelly-fish.  He  is 
soon  after  that  in  great  danger  from  an  anchor  being  pulled  up 
and  catching  in  his  clothes  ;  he  too  involuntarily  ascends,  but 
happily  a  sword-fish  cuts  the  cable  in  two,  and  he  is  again  at 
liberty.  Then  he  sits  on  an  oyster-bed  and  sketches  a  mer- 
maid, *who  is  reckoned  a  diving-belle  of  pre-eminent  beauty  ; 
but  the  oysters  don't  like  being  sat  upon,  and  creep  out  of 
bed  before  the  Professor  is  prepared  for  it.  Then  he  makes 
acquaintance  with  a  hermit  crab,  who  shakes  hands  with  him 
with  unexpected  fervor.  He  rides  a  sea-horse,  and,  though 
an  ostler  gives  him  the  common  counsel,  '  Giv'  'im  his  head 
and  he'll  go  easy,'  our  good  Professor  has  painfully  to  enact 
John  Gilpin  the  second.  He  gazes  enraptured  at  the  star 
(fishes),  but  the  sea-urchins  (uncommonly  like  land  ones) 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  305 

make  sad  sport  of  bis  serious  air.  He  finds  a  beautiful  pearl, 
and  is  just  picking  it  up  with  the  greatest  glee,  when  the 
mother  of  pearl  appears  and  drives  him  triumphantly  from  the 
field,  giving  the  first  instance  on  record  of  an  unmitigated 
submarine  volcano.  He  has  many  other  experiences,  but  they 
end  at  last  in  his  appearing  at  the  surface  of  the  water,  just  in 
front  of  bathers,  who  scud  into  the  machine  in  sore  affright. 

-"  We  are  very  proud  of  the  serpentine  works  sent  this  year, 
especially  the  inlaid  groups  of  flowers,  quit:  .  s  yood  as  the 
pietra  dura  of  Florence." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  Penjerrick,  November  4. — .  .  .  How  art  thou  agreeing 
with  the  foreshadowing  of  winter,  I  wonder  ?  It  certainly 
has  a  metaphysical  as  well  as  physical  influence  on  people  in 
general,  and  suggests  all  sorts  of  feelings  and  thoughts,  not 
necessarily  sad,  but  certainly  not  gay.  The  dead  leaves  at  our 
feet,  and  the  skeleton  trees  above  us,  give  us  a  sort  of  infant- 
school  lesson  in  human  history,  teaching  us,  moreover,  to 
spell  some  syllables  of  the  promise  of  being  once  more  '  clothed 
upon'  when  the  appointed  time  shall  come.  And  what  shall 
we  make  of  the  evergreens?  Yes,  I  think  I  know  human 
evergreens  too,  whose  change  is  but  a  translation  to  the 
regions  for  which  they  were  created.  .  .  . 

"  Of  the  '  Reformation  Society'  we  know  nothing,  but  unite 
with  thee  in  believing  St.  Paul's  affirmative  method  to  be  the 
Christian  one.  Oh,  how  often  have  I  writhed  under  mission- 
ary boasts  of  having  destroyed  the  faith  of  their  proteges  in 
that  which  had  been  holy  to  them,  as  though  that  first  step 
were  a  great  gain,  even  though  no  second  one  were  firmly 
made  !  F.  D.  Maurice,  on  the  contrary,  helps  each  to  feel 
how  momentous  and  how  fruitful  is  the  Truth — it  may  be 
hidden,  yet  still  living — in  that  form  of  religion  which  you 
profess  ;  and  he  points  out  how,  by  living  earnestly  in  it,  it 
expands  and  deepens,  and  by  assimilating  with  other  Truths 
displaces  gradually  all  that  is  incompatible  with  it.  And  was 
our  Lord's  teaching  destructive  or  creative  in  tone?"  .  .  . 

26* 


306  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  Penjerrick,  November  30. — Well,  I  have  read  those  papers 
in  'Fraser.'  .  .  .  Never  mind,  they  will  all  come  to  think 
rightly  some  day,  but  through  what  processes  of  teaching,  God 
only  knows.  May  we  but  be  willing  to  learn  the  Truth  at  all 
costs,  however  the  sharp  corners  of  our  prejudices  may  jog 
against  it,  or  however  it  may  disturb  the  easy  quiet  of  custom. 
I  say  our  prejudices  most  honestly,  for  indeed  I  am  very  ready 
to  believe  that  mine  will  be  quite  as  roughly  handled  as  other 
people's,  and  that  I  may  have  quite  as  many  surprises  as  they 
when  we  are  brought  to  see  things  as  they  are.  Meanwhile, 
what  we  each  have  to  do  is  to  endeavor  to  walk  steadily  in  the 
path  which  we  clearly  see  straight  before  us,  and,  when  we 
come  upon  a  perplexing  ganglion  of  paths,  wait  patiently  and 
take  our  bearings." 

Falnwuth,  November  30.- — At  the  Bank  House,  when  enter 
Elihu  Burritt,  looking  as  beautifully  refined  an  American 
Indian  as  ever.  He  has  formed  a  little  Peace  Society  here, 
with  meetings,  funds,  books,  and  a  secretary,  and  has  cleverly 
managed  to  persuade  the  editors  of  many  influential  foreign 
newspapers  to  give  constant  insertion  to  its  little  "  Olive 
Leaf,"  which  is  well.  He  gave  a  lecture  at  the  Polytechnic 
on  the  extension  of  the  penny-postage  system.  It  was  con- 
clusively argumentative  and  well  buttressed  with  facts,  statis- 
tical, financial,  and  social.  Our  ragged  boys  in  the  gallery 
quite  agreed  with  him,  and  the  feeling  of  the  meeting  crys- 
tallized into  a  petition. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
1853- 

"  Why,  what  should  be  the  fear? 
I  do  not  set  my  life  at  a  pin's  fee; 
And,  for  my  soul,  what  can  it  do  to  that, 
Being  a  thing  immortal  ?"  SHAKESPEARE. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

" Falmouthj  January  19. — MY  DEAR  E., — It's  only  I,  but 
never  mind.  Neither  do  I  like  either  to  be  or  to  appear  ungrate- 
ful, and  so  with  all  my  heart  thank  thee  for  my  share  in  the 
two  last  despatches.  It  is  a  long  time  to  go  back  to  the  first 
of  them,  with  its  triumphant  refutation  of  Kingsley's  '  Mira- 
cles Made  Easy,'  Ireland's  claims  on  the  best  feelings  of  Eng- 
land, and  several  other  popular  fallacies,  with  neither  the  pros 
or  cons  of  which  I  am  sufficiently  acquainted  to  enter  the 
lists  with  thee.  As  for  '  Alton  Locke,'  I  totally  forget  all  the 
miraculous  part,  and  only  read  it  as  an  intensely,  frightfully 
practical  book,  and  bought  a  more  expensive  pair  of  boots  in 
consequence ! 

"  And  as  for  Ireland,  poor  dear  impracticable  Ireland,  let  us 
be  thankful  that  we  are  not  made  governors  over  one  city. 
The  state  of  the  North,  especially  as  we  saw  it  around  Belfast, 
proved  that  the  problem  of  introducing  order  into  that  chaos 
is  not  one  for  absolute  despair ;  a  mixture  of  races,  and  steady 
employment,  and  energetic  wills,  and  benevolent  hearts,  have 
done  wonders  there  in  a  very  few  years,  without  many  Staf- 
fordine  executions  or  despotisms,  so  far  as  I  could  hear  of.  ... 

"  I  wish  thou  wouldst  always  choose  Monday  for  writing 
to  us,  and  then  we  should  get  those  Sunday  thoughts  which 
surely  ought  to  have  a  vent  before  those  woful  account-books 
give  a  comfortless  direction  to  thy  ideas.  I  feel  for  thee 
among  them  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart ;  for  am  not  I  the 

3°7 


308  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

treasurer  of  the  Industrial  Society,  and  do  my  accounts  evei 
balance  ? 

"  We  have  just  had  a  long  visit  from  a  Prussian  sailor-friend 
of  ours  from  the  Sailors'  Home,  called  Kisting  :  he  is  a  ship's 
carpenter,  who  fell  from  the  mast  and  broke  leg  and  hand, 
but  is  now  nicely  mended.  He  is  quite  a  man  of  education, 
and  is  delighted  to  have  books  ;  moreover,  we  have  taught 
him  to  read  as  well  as  talk  a  little  English  during  his  dreary 
confinement,  and  I  was  excessively  charmed  at  receiving  a 
lovely,  graceful  little  note  from  his  sister,  thanking  us  for  the 
small  kindnesses  shown  to  him.  He  is  thoroughly  with  us  in 
thinking  the  manufacture  of  war-machines  'unnatural  and 
unchristian,'  and  he  said  when  he  saw  two  cannons  taken 
on  board  ship  with  great  circumstance,  and  heard  the  clergy 
pronouncing  their  blessings  on  them,  '  I  felt  that  it  was  not 
right.'  .  .  . 

"  Does  friendship  really  go  on  to  be  more  a  pain  than  a 
pleasure?  I  doubt  it ;  for  even  in  its  deepest  sorrows  there  is 
a  joy  which  makes  ordinary  '  pleasure'  a  very  poor  meaning- 
less affair.  No,  no ;  we  need  never  be  scared  from  the  very 
depths  of  friendship  by  its  possible  consequences.  The  very 
fact  of  loving  another  more  than  yourself  is  in  itself  such  a 
blessing  that  it  seems  scarcely  to  require  any  other,  and  puts 
you  in  a  comfortable  position  of  independence."  .  .  . 

January  29. — Barclay  is  at  the  Manchester  Peace  Confer- 
ence, which  is  going  on  capitally ;  it  is  in  a  practical  tone, 
though  held  in  a  very  financial  atmosphere.  He  followed 
Cobden  unexpectedly  in  a  speech,  and  got  through  it  well, 
describing  the  origin  of  the  Peace  Society,  and  telling  the 
story  of  a  French  privateer  letting  a  captured  ship  loose  on 
finding  that  its  owner  was  a  Friend. 

February  7. — Kisting  (from  the  Sailors'  Home)  is  staying 
with  us.  He  talked  of  Humboldt,  and  how,  during  the  up- 
roar of  '48,  the  mob  rushed  from  house  to  house  taking  pos- 
session, at  last  came  to  Humboldt's ;  he  opened  wide  the 
door  and  answered,  "  Oh,  yes,  come  in  and  take  what  you 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  309 

can  find.  I  have  always  been  glad  to  do  what  I  can  for  you. 
I  am  Humboldt."  It  acted  like  magic  to  see  the  simply-clad, 
white-haired  old  man  standing  there  with  his  kind  arms  ex- 
tended ;  and  when  they  heard  the  name  they  loved  so  well, 
they  felt  only  as  children  who  saw  their  father  before  them. 

February  20. — Received  letters  about  the  sad  attempt  at 
insurrection  at  Milan.  Mazzini  left  England  with  little  hope, 
but  the  affair  was  hurried  on  by  the  Milanese  declaring  that 
if  he  would  not  direct  them  they  must  direct  themselves.  It 
was  discovered  forty-eight  hours  before  it  was  designed  to  ex- 
plode, on  which  Mazzini  sent  expresses  to  stop  the  movement 
in  other  towns  ;  those  in  Milan  chose  to  die  fighting  rather 
than  on  the  scaffold.  Mazzini  and  Saffi,  though  not  appre- 
hended, must  yet  be  in  great  danger  in  those  parts,  and  Mrs. 
Carlyle  says  he  took  leave  of  her  as  one  who  never  expected 
to  see  her  again ;  he  kissed  her  and  said,  "  Be  strong  and 
good  until  I  return,"  and  he  seemed  to  go  from  a  sense  of 
duty  rather  than  of  hope.  It  is  a  most  grievous  error. 

March  10. — As  we  turned  the  corner  of  a  lane  during  our 
walk,  a  man  and  a  bull  came  in  sight, — the  former  crying  out, 
"Ladies,  save  yourselves  as  you  can!"  the  latter  scudding 
onward  slowly  but  furiously.  I  jumped  aside  on  a  little 
hedge,  but  thought  the  depth  below  rather  too  great, — about 
nine  or  ten  feet ;  but  the  man  cried,  "  Jump  !"  and  I  jumped. 
To  the  horror  of  all,  the  bull  jumped  after  me.  My  fall 
stunned  me,  so  that  I  knew  nothing  of  my  terrible  neighbor, 
whose  deep  autograph  may  be  now  seen  quite  close  to  my 
little  one.  He  thought  me  dead,  and  only  gazed  without 
any  attempt  at  touching  me,  though  pacing  round,  pawing 
and  snorting,  and  thus  we  were  for  about  twenty  minutes. 
The  man,  a  kind  soul  but  no  hero,  stood  on  the  hedge  above, 
charging  me  from  time  to  time  not  to  move.  Indeed,  my 
first  recollection  is  of  his  friendly  voice.  And  so  I  lay  still, 
wondering  how  much  was  reality  and  how  much  dream  ;  and 
when  I  tried  to  think  of  my  situation,  I  pronounced  it  too 
dreadful  to  be  true,  and  certainly  a  dream.  Then  I  contem- 
plated a  drop  of  blood  and  a  lump  of  mud,  which  looked  very 


3io 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


real  indeed,  and  I  thought  it  very  imprudent  in  any  man  to 
make  me  lie  in  a  pool :  it  would  surely  give  me  rheumatism. 
I  longed  to  peep  at  the  bull,  but  was  afraid  to  venture  on  such 
a  movement.  Then  I  thought,  I  shall  probably  be  killed  in 
a  few  minutes,  how  is  it  that  I  am  not  taking  it  more  sol- 
emnly ?  I  tried  to  do  so,  seeking  rather  for  preparation  for 
death  than  restoration  to  life.  Then  I  checked  myself  with 
the  thought,  It's  only  a  dream,  so  it's  really  quite  profane 
to  treat  it  in  this  way;  and  so  I  went  on  oscillating.  There 
was,  however,  a  rest  in  the  dear  will  of  God  which  I  love  to 
remember;  also  a  sense  of  the  simplicity  of  my  condition, — 
nothing  to  do  to  involve  others  in  suffering,  only  to  endure 
what  was  laid  upon  me.  To  me  the  time  did  not  seem  nearly 
so  long  as  they  say  it  was  :  at  length  the  drover,  having  found 
some  bullocks,  drove  them  into  the  field,  and  my  bull,  after 
a  good  deal  of  hesitation,  went  off  to  his  own  species.  Then 
they  have  a  laugh  at  me  that  I  stayed  to  pick  up  some  oranges 
I  had  dropped  before  taking  the  man's  hand  and  being 
pulled  up  the  hedge ;  but  in  all  this  I  acted  as  a  somnam- 
bulist, with  only  fitful  gleams  of  consciousness  and  memory. 

April  3. — Cobden  is  so  delighted  with  Barclay's  tract, 
"My  friend  Mr.  B.,"  that  he  requests  it  may  be  printed  on 
good  paper  and  sent  to  every  member  of  the  two  Houses, 
which  is  to  be  done. 

Interesting  letter  from  Henry  F.  Barclay  from  Paris,  with 
an  account  of  the  dinner  at  the  Tuileries  given  to  the  depu- 
tation from  the  commercial  community  of  London  to  the 
Emperor.*  It  was  a  small  party;  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 

*  On  Easter  Monday,  at  half-past  one  o'clock,  the  Emperor  of  the  French 
received  at  the  Tuileries  the  deputation  of  the  merchants  of  London. 

The  Ministers  of  State,  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  of  the  Interior  were  present. 

The  deputation  was  composed  of  Sir  James  Duke,  Bart.,  M.P.,  Sir  Edward 
N.  Buxton,  Bart.,  Mr.  Samuel  Gurney,  Mr.  W.  Gladstone,  Mr.  J.  D.  Powles, 
Mr.  Glyn,  Mr.  Dent,  Mr.  Barclay,  and  Mr.  Masterman. 

Sir  James  Duke  addressed  the  Emperor  in  the  following  terms : 

"  Sire, — We  have  the  honor  and  the  gratification  to  appear  before  your 
Majesty  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  to  your  Majesty,  and  to  the  French 
nation,  a  declaration  from  the  commercial  community  of  the  metropolis  of  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3II 

with  three  ladies,  joined  them  in  the  Empress's  drawing-room, 
and  they  were  not  at  all  prepared  to  see  so  lovely  a  creature. 

British  Empire,  embodying  the  sentiments  of  amity  and  respect  by  which  they 
are  animated  towards  their  brethren  of  France. 

"  The  circumstances  which  have  called  forth  this  declaration  being  fully 
stated  in  the  declaration  itself,  bearing  the  signatures  of  upwards  of  four  thou- 
sand of  the  merchants,  bankers,  and  traders  of  London,  we  have  only  to  add 
the  expression  of  our  conviction  that  this  document  conveys  at  the  same  time 
a  faithful  representation  of  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  England  at  large. 

"  In  conclusion,  Sire,  we  beg  to  express  to  your  Imperial  Majesty  our  fer- 
vent hope  that,  under  your  reign,  France  and  England  may  be  always  united 
in  a  friendly  and  mutually  beneficial  intercourse,  and  that  from  the  friendship 
of  these  two  gr«at  nations  results  may  ensue  favorable  to  the  peace  of  the 
world  and  the  happiness  of  mankind." 

The  hon.  baronet  then  read  the  following,  which  he  afterwards  presented  to 
his  Imperial  Majesty: — 

"  DECLARATION  OF  THE  MERCHANTS,  BANKERS,  TRADERS,  AND  OTHERS 
OF  LONDON. — We,  the  undersigned  merchants,  bankers,  traders,  and  others 
of  London,  feel  ourselves  called  upon  at  this  time  publicly  to  express  the  con- 
cern with  which  we  learn,  through  various  channels  of  information,  that  an 
impression  exists  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  France  that  feelings  of  an  un- 
friendly character  are  entertained  towards  them  by  the  people  of  England. 

"  We  think  it  right  emphatically  to  declare  that  we  believe  no  such  feelings 
exist  on  the  part  of  the  English  people  towards  the  people  of  France.  We 
believe  the  welfare  of  both  nations  to  be  closely  interwoven,  as  well  in  a 
mutually  advantageous  and  commercial  intercourse  as  in  a  common  partici- 
pation in  all  the  improvements  of  art  and  science. 

"  Rejoicing  in  the  reflection  that  nearly  forty  years  have  passed  since  the 
final  cessation  of  hostilities  between  France  and  England,  we  record  our  con- 
viction that  European  wars  should  be  remembered  only  to  be  deplored,  for 
the  sacrifice  of  life  and  treasure  with  which  they  were  attended,  the  hindrances 
they  interposed  to  all  useful  enterprise  and  social  advancement,  the  angry  and 
unchristian  feelings  which  they  evoked  in  their  progress,  and  the  heavy  finan- 
cial burdens  which  they  left  behind  them  at  their  close, — considerations  which 
supply  the  most  powerful  motives  to  every  individual  in  the  European  com- 
munity to  avoid,  and  to  oppose  by  every  means  in  his  power,  whatever  may 
tend  to  cause  the  recurrence  of  such  evils. 

"  We  desire  to  remark  that  if,  in  that  expression  of  opinion  on  public  ques- 
tions which  the  press  of  this  country  is  accustomed  to  exercise,  it  is  found 
occasionally  to  speak  with  apparent  harshness  of  the  government  or  the  insti- 
tutions of  other  States,  the  same  is  not  to  be  understood  in  a  spirit  of  national 
hostility,  or  as  desiring  to  give  offence.  We  feel  that  with  the  internal  policy 
or  mode  of  government  which  the  French  nation  may  think  good  to  adopt  for 
itself  it  is  not  for  British  subjects  to  interfere,  funher  than  heartily  to  desire 
that  it  may  result  in  peace  and  happiness  to  all  interested  therein. 


312 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


Their  Majesties  preceded  them  in  to  dinner  and  sat  side  by 
side,  Lord  and  Lady  Cowley  flanking  them  ;  it  was  a  real 
pleasure  to  see  the  husband  and  wife  quite  flirting  together,  as 
happy  as  birds.  After  dinner,  when  they  all  returned  to  the 
drawing-room,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  separately  went 
about  conversing  pleasantly  with  all  the  different  guests, — the 
Empress  on  the  Exhibition  and  the  improvements  around 
Paris,  and  the  Emperor  and  Samuel  Gurney  on  the  state  of 
the  country,  the  good  the  deputation  had  done,  the  difficulty 
of  understanding  the  state  of  things  around  you  until  cleared 
up  by  inquiring  of  ministers,  the  mischief  of  the  tone  taken 
by  some  of  the  English  papers,  the  difference  between  the 
nature  of  the  two  countries.  "  In  France,"  said  the  Emperor, 
"revolutions  are  easy,  but  reforms  slow,  almost  impossible; 
in  England  reforms  are  steady  and  certain,  but  revolutions 
can  never  be  accomplished." 

London,  May  4. — To  the  Bible  meeting.  Dr.  Gumming 
was  most  felicitous  in  language  and  illustration  ;  Hugh  M'Neil 
very  brilliant  and  amusing  on  tradition  versus  Scripture  ;  then 
an  American  bishop  and  his  friend  spoke  as  a  deputation. 

"  We  conclude  this  declaration  by  proclaiming  our  earnest  desire  for  the 
long  continuance  of  cordiality  and  good  will  between  Frenchmen  and  Eng- 
lishmen, our  determination  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  uphold  the  same,  and  our 
fervent  hope  that  the  inhabitants  of  both  nations  may  in  future  only  vie  with 
each  other  in  cultivating  the  arts  of  peace  and  in  extending  the  sources  of 
social  improvement  for  their  common  benefit." 

His  Majesty  replied  in  English : 

"  I  am  extremely  touched  by  this  manifestation.  It  confirms  me  in  the 
confidence  with  which  the  good  sense  of  the  English  nation  has  always  inspired 
me.  During  the  long  stay  I  made  in  England  I  admired  the  liberty  she 
enjoys, — thanks  to  the  perfection  of  her  institutions.  Nevertheless,  at  one 
period  last  year  I  feared  that  public  opinion  was  misled  with  regard  to  the 
true  state  of  France  and  her  sentiments  towards  Great  Britain.  But  the  good 
faith  of  a  great  people  cannot  be  long  deceived,  and  the  step  which  you  now 
take  is  a  striking  proof  of  this. 

"  Ever  since  I  have  held  power  my  efforts  constantly  tend  to  develop  the 
prosperity  of  France.  I  know  her  interests  ;  they  are  not  different  from  those 
of  all  other  civilized  nations.  Like  you,  I  desire  peace ;  and,  to  make  it  sure, 
I  wish,  like  you,  to  draw  closer  the  bonds  which  unite  our  two  countries." 

The  deputation  then  retired. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3I3 

Dr.  Binney,  in  a  clever,  free-and-easy  speech,  sympathized 
with  them  (on  slavery  being  still  an  institution  in  their  coun- 
try) ;  and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Stowe  being  present  in  a  side-gallery 
gave  great  piquancy  to  these  remarks,  and  the  room  was  in  a 
tumult  of  sympathy. 

May  8. — Charles  Gilpin  took  us  to  a  presentation  of  Shake- 
speare, by  nine  thousand  working  Englishmen,  to  Kossuth.* 
We  were  in  a  little  orchestra  with  Madame  Kossuth,  who  is 
an  anxious,  careworn,  but  refined-looking  woman,  with  very 
prominent  eyes.  Her  husband  is  a  very  manly.-looking  Saxon, 
with  clear  blue  eyes  and  much  openness  of  expression ;  he 
was  in  his  Hungarian  dress,  and  the  people  were  in  incon- 
trollable  excitement  at  his  entrance.  Lord  Dudley  Stuart 
was  in  the  chair,  and  contrived  cleverly  to  bespeak  a  loyal 
tone  to  the  meeting,  which  was  certainly  in  a  most  democratic 
spirit.  Then  old,, rather  crabbed-looking  Douglas  Jerrotd 
presented  Shakespeare's  house  and  works  in  a  very  good, 

*  "  On  the  I7th  of  November,  1852,  Douglas  Jerrold  wrote  to  the  editor  of 
the  '  Daily  News'  the  following  letter : 

"  '  SIR, — It  is  written  in  the  brief  history  made  known  to  us  of  Kossuth, 
that  in  an  Austrian  prison  he  was  taught  English  by  the  words  of  the  teacher 
Shakespeare.  An  Englishman's  blood  glows  with  the  thought  that  from  the 
quiver  of  the  immortal  Saxon  Kossuth  has  furnished  himself  with  those  arrowy 
\\o;ds  that  kindle  as  they  fly,-  -words  that  are  weapons,  as  Austria  will  know. 
Would  it  not  be  a  graceful  tribute  to  the  genius  of  the  man  who  has  stirred 
our  nation's  heart  to  present  to  him  a  copy  of  Shakespeare  ?  To  do  this  I 
would  propose  a  penny  subscription.  The  large  amount  of  money  obtained 
by  these  means,  the  cost  of  the  work  itself  being  small,  might  be  expended 
on  the  binding  of  the  volumes,  and  on  a  casket  to  contain  them.  There  are 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Englishmen  who  would  rejoice  thus  to  endeavor  to 
manifest  their  gratitude  to  Kossuth  for  the  glorious  words  he  has  uttered 
among  us, — words  that  have  been  as  pulses  to  the  nation. — DOUGLAS  JER- 
ROLD.' 

"  This  idea  was  caught  up  at  once,  and  the  author  of  it  went  enthusiastically 
through  all  the  trouble  of  collecting  the  people's  pence.  Momhs  were  spent, 
but  the  money  came  in.  And  the  volumes  were  bought,  and  -sent  to  be 
bound.  Then  for  the  casket,  for  there  was  yet  money  to  spare.  Another 
idea!  It  should  be  a  model  of  Shakespeare's  house  in  inlaid  woods,  all  beau- 
tifully worked.  The  casket  was  accordingly  made,  and  a  meeting  was  called 
for  the  8th  of  May,  1853,  to  present  the  gift  of  the  nation  to  Kossuth." — Vide 
"  Life  of  Douglas  Jerrold,"  by  his  Son,  pp.  251,  252,  etc. 
O  27 


3 14  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

though,  of  course,  intensely  eulogistic,  speech.  Kossuth  re- 
plied wonderfully;  his  language  so  well  chosen  and  pro- 
nounced with  such  emphasis  and  point  :  his  attitudes  were 
quiet  and  unstudied,  and  he  impressed  one  with  vastly  more 
respect  than  we  had  ever  felt  for  him  before.  He  described 
his  first  introduction  to  our  language  when  in  prison  and 
utterly  alone,  not  seeing  the  trees  or  the  sky ;  he  begged  that 
a  book  might  be  granted  him.  "Very  well,  if  not  on  poli- 
tics." "May  I  have  an  English  Shakespeare,  grammar,  and 
dictionary?"  These  were  given,  and  so  he  labored  and 
pored  for  a  while,  till  light  broke  in  and  a  new  glory  streamed 
into  his  captive  life. 

Penzance,  August  27. — At  the  Land's  End,  breathing  in 
the  beauty  of  the  scene.  I  could  not  help  rather,,  wishing 
myself  in  the  Longships  Light-house,  with  duty  so  clearly 
defined  and  so  really  important,  yet  so  much  time  left  for 
one's  own  meditations. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

Penjerrick,  October  3. — Thy  most  welcome  -letter  would 
have  been  acknowledged  much  sooner,  but  I  had  such  a  mass 
and  variety  of  everybody's  business  to  attend  to  as  quite  be- 
wildered my  poor  little  mind.  Now,  however,  the  pressure 
from  without  has  greatly  abated,  and  poor  little  mind  afore- 
said is,  I  really  hope,  getting  into  a  more  tidy  and  manage- 
able condition.  ... 

"Our  winter  looks  a  little  disjointed,*  but  they  are  all  so 
anxious  to  see  the  simply  right  course  to  take  that  I  have  no 
doubt  of  the  dissected  map  being  put  neatly  together  before 
long.  Jane  has  all  her  children  in  the  North  except  little 
Gurney,  who  is  my  heart's-delight,  and  a  perfect  mass  of  sun- 
shine to  us.  I  have  never  before  had  a  child  thrown  so  much 
on  my  care,  and  most  delicious  I  find  the  tender  little  depend- 
ence. And  then  I  have  also  the  very  new  and  very  exalting 
experience  of  my  presence  or  absence  being  absolutely  a  mat- 

*  This  refers  to  her  brother's  health  being  delicate,  and  he  and  his  wife 
having  to  leave  their  children  and  go  abroad. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  315 

ter  of  importance  to  one  dear  human  being.  And,  oh,  how 
much  that  dear  mother  and  I  do  make  of  each  other  !  .  .  . 
Maurice's  new  book,  'Theological  Essays,'  is  a  great  event  to 
me.  ...  It  fills  one  with  ponderings  on  large  subjects,  and 
I  trust  he  helps  one  to  ponder  them  in  a  large  and  trustful 
spirit,  or,  at  least,  to  desire  to  do  so.  In  his  special  results 
there  is  plenty  of  matter  for  difference  as  well  as  agreement, 
but  for  the  spirit  in  which  he  seeks  them — thank  God." 

Caroline  Fox  to  J.  M.  Backhouse. 

fi  Penjerrick,  November  z. — Pray  thank  Aunt  Charles  for 
the  sight  of  the  enclosed  portrait  of  the  Stevensons.  How 
incalculable  is  the  national  importance  of  one  such  genuine 
Christian  family  !  Tell  her  that  the  King's  College  Council 
has  decided  against  F.  D.  Maurice,  proclaiming  him  (as  Soc- 
rates before  him)  a  dangerous  teacher  for  youth  !  This  may 
probably  be  but  the  beginning  of  ordeals  for  the  brave  and 
faithful  soul.  He  has  expected  it  for  months,  but  it  comes  at 
last  as  a  very  painful  blow.  His  beautiful  book,  '  The  Kings 
and  Prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,'  dedicated  to  your  friend 
Thomas  Erskine  in  such  a  lovely  letter,  seems  to  me  an  ad- 
mirable preparation  for  his  present  discipline.  But  I  imagine 
him  in  deep  anxiety  lest  party  spirit  and  revenge  should  be 
awakened  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  feel  how  much  they  owe 
him." 

November  29. — The  Enys's  brought  a  very  remarkable 
woman  over  here  for  several  hours, — Courtney  Boyle,  for 
twenty  years  maid  of  honor  to  Queen  Adelaide,  of  whom 
she  speaks  with  most  reverent  affection.  Though  now  in 
years  and  most  eccentric  in  dress,  she  is  very  beautiful  and 
very  charming.  Her  gray  hair  all  flows  back  at  its  own  sweet 
will,  in  utter  ignorance  of  combs  and  hair-pins,  and  on  the 
top  is  placed  a  broad-brimmed  black  beaver  hat  with  a  feather 
in  it,  which  she  often  takes  off  and  carries  in  her  hand.  She 
warbles  and  whistles  like  a  bird,  and  was  in  thorough  har- 
mony with  nature  and  Uncle  Joshua.  As  she  stood  on  our 


3 1 6  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

bridge  and  looked  at  what  is  called  the  London  road,  she 
remarked,  "  The  world  is  all  very  well  in  its  place,  but  it  has 
no  business  here."  She  often  pays  long  visits  to  W.  S.  Lan- 
dor,  when  he  takes  her  back  into  the  old  times,  and  they 
have  Dante  and  Beatrice  and  such-like  at  table  with  them. 

December  10. — Amelia  Opie  is  gone  home,  after  an  illness 
borne  with  much  gentle  peace  and  trust  and  ended  with 
severe  bodily  conflict.  I  have  had  a  series  of  leave-takings 
among  my  cottage  friends,  and  a  dog  and  a  cat  followed  me 
so  pertinaciously  that  it  was  some  trouble  to  dispense  with 
them.  And,  sitting  down  under  the  hedge,  old  Pascoe  and 
I  read  of  Christian  and  Hopeful  passing  over  the  river,  and 
we  looked  across  to  the  cottage  of  one  who  had  long  been 
trembling  on  its  banks,  but  had  now  been  carried  over  and 
welcomed  by  the  shining  ones. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Falmouth,  December  19. —  .  .  .  Oh,  I  love  thy  defini- 
tion of  heroism  right  heartily,  and  thank  thee  for  every  word 
thou  hast  written  on  the  subject.  Speak  it  out  boldly  and 
often,  for  it  is  sorely  needed  in  our  egotistic  day  and  genera- 
tion. Strange  indeed  that  self  should  show  its  ugly  face 
there,  but  most  truly  it  does,  and  complicates  our  sense  of 
right  and  duty  often  in  the  strangest  fashion,  sometimes  in 
the  fatallest  way.  The  longer  one  lives — and  I  have  lived  a 
very  long  while — the  more  earnest,  I  think,  our  desires  be- 
come for  simplicity  of  judgment  and  of  action  ;  the  simple 
right,  even  if  it  should  be  the  pleasant  too,  rather  than  any 
morbid  sutteeism,  into  which  one  may  be  driven  from  mere 
dread  of  self-indulgence.  .  .  .  But  heroism  surely  implies  self- 
forgetfulness :  let  self  be  exalted  or  trampled  under  foot  just 
as  it  may  happen,  but  the  deed  must  be  done.  ...  I  have 

often  been  struck  with  precisely  this  state  of  things  in , 

and  accordingly  she  does  habitually  many  fine  little  things, 
whilst  perhaps  I  may  be  reading  admirable  treatises  on  self- 
sacrifice  and  wondering  how  best  to  apply  them.  And  I  believe 
she  has  no  idea  that  she  forgets  self.  Heaven  bless  her  !" 


CHAPTER    XX. 
1854. 

"  Oh,  seek  no  bliss  but  to  fulfil, 
In  Life,  in  Death,  His  holy  will." 

"  This  couplet  has  been  so  perpetually  running  through  my  head  that  I  may 
as  well  adopt  it  as  my  New  Year's  motto  and  watchword." — C.  F. 

Torquay,  January  30. — Charles  Kingsley  called,  but  we 
missed  him. 

February  3. — We  paid  him  and  his  wife  a  very  happy  call ; 
he  fraternizing  at  once,  and  stuttering  pleasant  and  discrimi- 
nating things  concerning  F.  D.  Maurice,  Coleridge,  and 
others.  He  looks  sunburnt  with  dredging  all  the  morning, 
has  a  piercing  eye  under  an  overhanging  brow,  and  his  voice 
is  most  melodious  and  his  pronunciation  exquisite.  He  is 
strangely  attractive. 

February  25. — The  St.  Petersburg  Peace  Deputation  has 
greatly  flourished.  They  had- half  an  hour's  colloquy  with 
the  Czar,  who  talked  very  freely  over  European  politics  and 
told  them  of  his  pacific  desires  and  bellicose  necessities.  He 
ended  by  shaking  hands  and  saying,  "  You  would  like  to  see 
my  wife."  So  they  saw  her,  and  she  had  evidently  been 
watching  the  previous  interview,  for  she  told  them  that  there 
were  tears  in  the  Czar's  eyes  as  they  spoke  to  him.  He  means 
to  send  a  reply  to  the  Address  from  the  Society  of  Friends : 
every  king  looks  over  the  precipice  of  war,  but  happily  with 
far  more  of  shuddering  than  heretofore. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Falmouth,  March  18. — As  for  C.  Kingsley,  I  can't  half 
answer  thy  questions :  we  saw  much  more  of  his  wife  than 
himself,  and  of  her  rather  intimately.  He  has  rather  the 

27*  317 


3'* 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


look  which  thou  suggests  a  priori,  but  his  wife's  stories  of 
him  are  delightful, — the  solemn  sense  of  duty  under  which 
he  writes,  the  confirming  letters  he  has  received  from  far  and 
near  from  ardent  young  spirits,  who  thank  him  for  having 
rescued  them  from  infidelity.  Such  things  console  him  greatly 
for  being  ranked  among  his  country's  plagues.  '  Yeast'  was 
the  book  which  was  written  with  his  heart's  blood  ;  it  was 
the  outcome  of  circumstances,  and  cost  him  an  illness.  Thou 
knows  that  Anthony  Froude,  the  author  of  the  burnt  '  Nem- 
esis,' has  become  his  brother-in-law. 

"Hast  thou  read  William  Conybeare's  clever  paper  on 
Church  Parties  in  the  October  '  Edinburgh'  ?  We  had  the 
Low,  High,  and  Broad  admirably  illustrated  at  Torquay, — 
the  Stevensons,  the  Kingsleys,  and  a  family  of  very  charming 
people,  one  of  whom  gave  me  a  long  discourse  on  the  bless- 
ings of  auricular  confession.  It  is  very  delightful  to  get 
beneath  all  those  crusty  names  and  find  the  true  human  heart 
beating  right  humanly  in  each  and  all. 

"The  British  fleet  has  reached  Copenhagen.  Such  is  to- 
day's news.  The  staff  does  not  start  till  next  week  for  Con- 
stantinople. ...  So  neither  Cobden's  doves,  nor  the  fanat- 
ical Quakers,  nor  the  European  Powers  are  likely  to  interfere 
with  what  thou  considers  the  right  way  of  settling  a  vexed 
question.  Poor  Czar !  what  strange  dreams  he  must  have, 
and  what  a  strange  awakening  !"  .  .  . 

March  27. — Judge  Talfourd  died  suddenly  on  the  bench  at 
Stafford,  after  a  striking  charge,  in  which  he  dwelt  on  the 
lack  of  sympathy  between  the  classes,  and  the  fruitful  source 
of  crime  which  this  proved, — employers  and  employed  hold- 
ing a  mechanical  rather  than  a  human  relation  to  each  other. 

May  24. — Madame  de  Wette  is  staying  with  us,  the  widow 
of  the  well-known  Professor.*  She  is  lively,  shrewd,  warm- 

*  Professor  de  Wette,  author  of  critical  works  on  the  Bible  and  theology. 
That  his  teaching  became  more  constructive  than  destructive  is  shown  in  the 
preface  to  his  last  book, — "  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse," — where  he  says, 
"  In  studying  the  Apocalypse,  I  have  not  learned  to  prophesy  ;  I  cannot,  there- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3Ip 

hearted,  and  with  much  knowledge  of  books  and  men.  Pro- 
fessor Vinet  was  her  dear  friend,  and  of  him  she  gives  lovely 
scraps  and  sketches.  She  described  an  amusing  evening  she 
spent  with  the  Emperor  Alexander  at  her  sister's  house  at 
Basle,  where  all  etiquette  was  put  aside  and  they  were  as 
happy  as  birds.  She  told  him  that  they  would  hope  to  see 
him  again  at  Basle,  but  with  a  smaller  attendance  (he  was 
then  on  his  way  from  Paris  with  thirty  thousand  men). 

June  5. — Some  of  Madame  de  Wette's  stories  are  very  char- 
acteristic of  the  men  and  their  times.  Her  husband  had  once 
been  accidentally  received  and  kindly  entertained  by  Sand's 
mother ;  so  after  the  murder  of  Kotzebue,  and  the  execution 
of  the  poor  fanatic,  he  wrote  a  letter  bf  comfort  to  the  poor 
old  lady,  saying  that  though  a  human  tribunal  could  not  but 
judge  and  condemn  him,  yet  we  might  trust  that  God,  who 
saw  his  intention,  might  judge  differently  and  show  him 
mercy.  The  Prussian  government  was  then  in  a  very  sensi- 
tive state,  suspecting  conspiracy  against  itself:  so,  on  search- 
ing the  poor  old  lady's  papers  and  discovering  this  letter, 
they  thought  De  Wette's  politics  unsatisfactory  in  a  college 
professor,  and  expelled  him  from  Prussia.  He  and  Schleier- 
macher  had  worked  much  together,  so  it  was  a  sore  wrench, 
and  the  students  were  half  frantic  at  the  loss  of  what  they  con- 
sidered their  best  teacher ;  so  he  came  to  Basle,  and  there  he 
was  theological  professor  until  he  died.  Before  she  married 
him  she  was  staying  with  Vinet,  and  asked  what  he  thought 
of  De  Wette's  views  on  the  non-eternity  of  punishment.  He 
said,  "I  think  Professor  de  Wette  wrong,  and  he  thinks  me 
wrong;  but  we  cannot  tell  which  of  us  may  be  the  mistaken 
one,  and  it  is  not  a  subject  which  need  in  any  way  separate  true 
Christians." 

fore,  know  what  is  to  be  the  future  state  of  our  beloved  Evangelical  Church  : 
yet  I  do  know  one  thing,  that  there  is  no  salvation  but  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  Jesus  Christ  crucified  ;  that  for  our  humanity  there  is  nothing  above, 
nothing  beyond,  the  union  of  God  and  man  realized  in  Him  ;  that  the  reign  of 
God  founded  by  Him  on  earth  is  very  far  still  from  having  entered  into  the  life 
itself,  even  of  those  who  justly  are  considered  as  being  the  most  zealous  and 
devoted  Christians." 


320 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


One  Saturday,  when  news  came  of  some  poor  people  being 
burnt  out  of  house  and  home,  she  asked  Vinet  if  she  might 
spend  Sunday  in  working  for  them,  as  she  had  nothing  with 
her  to  give.  "Well,"  he  replied,  "as  I  suppose  your  and 
my  wife's  tongues  will  be  wagging  all  day,  I  cannot  say  that  it 
will  be  any  worse  for  your  thumbs  to  wag  too  :  so  I  leave  it 
to  your  own  convictions." 

July  23. — We  had  a  visit  from  Sir  Charles  Lemon  and  Dr. 
Milman,  the  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  He  is  bowed  down  more 
with  study  than  age,  for  his  eyes  are  bright  and  keen,  and 
have  a  depth  of  geniality  and  poetic  feeling  lying  in  them, 
overshadowed  as  they  are  by  black  shaggy  eyebrows;  the 
features  are  all  good,  dnd  the  mouth  very  mobile  in  form  and 
expression.  He  is  most  friendly  in  manner  and  free  in  con- 
versation ;  greatly  open  to  admiring  the  beautiful  world  around 
him,  and  expressing  himself  with  a  poet's  choice  of  language, 
and  sometimes  with  a  Coleridgean  intoned  emphasis.  They 
are  going  to  explore  our  coast,  winding  up  with  Tintagel, 
whither  as  a  boy  he  was  poetically  attracted,  and  wrote  a  poem 
called  "The  City  of  Light,"  made  up  of  King  Arthur,  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  and  all  sorts  of  things  which  he  was  utterly 
incompetent  to  put  together.  "And  when  is  Arthur  coming 
again?"  said  I,  with  a  laudable  desire  for  information.  "  He 
has  come,"  was  the  reply;  "  we  have  had  our  second  Arthur  • 
can  he  be  better  represented  than  in  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton ?" 

The  Dean  used  often  to  see  and  hear  S.  T.  Coleridge,  but 
his  wonderful  talk  was  far  too  unvaried  from  day  to  day ;  also, 
there  were  some  absolute  deficiencies  in  it,  such  as  the  total 
absence  of  wit;  still,  it  was  very  remarkable.  "But,"  he 
added,  "  I  used  to  be  wicked  enough  to  divide  it  into  three 
parts :  one  third  was  admirable,  beautiful  in  language  and  ex- 
alted in  thought ;  another  third  was  sheer  absolute  nonsense  ; 
and  of  the  remaining  third,  I  knew  not  whether  it  were  sense 
or  nonsense." 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  321 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  Penjerrick,  July  29. — MY  DEAR  E., — Indeed  I  would  have 
maintained  a  decent  silence  for  some  weeks,  but  then  there  is 
mamma's  gratitude  about  the  fruit !  and  papa's  words  con- 
cerning Madeira  earths,  which,  lest  I  forget,  I  will  here  set 
down.  .  .  . 

"If  thou  wert  cross,  I  was  assuredly  wondrous  pragmatical 
in  my  'good  advice;'  well,  I  suppose  to  the  world's  end  some 
must  preach  and  others  practise,  for  you  can't  expect  either 
party  to  do  double  duty.  .  .  . 

"  Uncle  and  Aunt  Charles  are  just  returned  from  their  long 
and  eventful  absence.  .  .  .  She  has  brought  home  three  little 
baby  tortoises,  most  exquisite  black  demonettes  an  inch  and 
a  half  long,  with  long  tails,  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  often  prove 
comforters.  'What  am  I  doing — thinking — reading?'  My 
dear  E.,  very  little  of  either.  Taking  life  far  too  easily,  and 
enjoying  it  far  too  much, — I  mean  the  indolent  part  of  it. 
The  only  book  I  shall  chronicle  is  the  '  Heir  of  Redclyffe,' 
which  I  read  with  the  Tregedna  cousins, — an  exquisite  and 
inspiring  vision  of  persevering  and  successful  struggle  with  the 
evil  part  of  human  nature ;  and  H.  Martineau's  history  of 
thirty  English  years,  really  giving  one  a  very  interesting  in- 
sight into  the  birth  of  many  ideas  which  have  now  got  into 
jackets  and  trousers." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Penjerrick,  November  21. — Now  I  have  been  a  little  long 
in  writing,  haven't  I?  But  only  listen  to  me,  and  grant  that 
there  has  been  little  time  for  letter-writing.  These  daily 
peace-essays,  published  in  a  paper  called  the  'Times,'  are 
enough  to  account  for  any  one's  being  kept  in  a  breathless 
silence  of  attention,  awe-stricken,  shuddering,  asking  with 
round  eyes,  '  What  next  ?' 

"  But,  besides  this,  Robin  and  I  have  been  with  Barclay  to 
Southampton,  and  seen  him  off  for  Alexandria  in  the  good 
ship  'Indus,'  and  then  with  heavy  hearts  went  to  London. 


322  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Everything  on  board  the  '  Indus'  looked  promising ;  the 
second  officer  magnificently  gave  up  his  luxurious  cabin,  and 
when  the  bell  rang  we  left  our  brother,  feeling  that  we  ought 
to  be  thankful  for  the  present  and  trustful  for  the  future.  His 
brother-in-law,  John  Hodgkin,  came  down  that  morning  from 
London  to  see  him  off;  he  was  in  every  way  a  great  comfort 
and  strength  ;  for  we  had  a  little  time  of  solemn  silence  and 
as  solemn  prayer  before  going  on  board,  which,  though  most 
touching,  was  essentially  strengthening  and  helpful.  The 
weather  has  been  so  fine  since  he  left  that  we  feel  we  have  had 
no  pretext  for  anxiety,  and  all  we  hear  and  all  we  know  argues 
that  he  is  doing  the  very  wisest  thing  possible,  and  that  there 
is  every  probability  of  its  bringing  him  into  a  very  different 
state  of  health  from  that  in  which  we  part  from  him.  And 
how  different  from  an  embarkation  for  Sebastopol ! 

"  F.  Maurice  was  much  cheered  by  the  good  beginning  of 
his  People's  College,  and  especially  by  the  unexpectedly  large 
attendance  of  his  own  Bible-class  on  Sunday  evening ;  his 
inaugural  lecture,  I  hear,  was  very  fine  and  telling.'''  .  .  . 

December  20. — I  must  copy  Barclay's  little  Psalm  of  Life 
sent  to  his  wife  : 

"  TE  DEUM. 
"  The  sea,  the  shore,  and  the  morning 

A  glorious  anthem  raise  : 
Shall  I  not  swell  the  chorus 

With  a  hearty  hymn  of  praise  ? 

"  Creator,  Guide,  Protector, 

In  whose  strength  grow  we  strong, 
Shall  we  not  trust  Thee  wholly, 

Who've  proved  Thy  power  so  long? 

"  Surely,  Thou  art  our  Father, 

Acknowledged  or  unknown ; 
And  we,  but  little  children 
That  cannot  run  alone. 

"  In  small  things,  as  in  greater, 

Thy  watchful  care  I  see  ; 
All  work  together  for  their  good 
Who  love  and  lean  on  Thee. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  323 

"  Yes,  Thou  art  still  our  Father, 

Whether  we  go  or  stay, 
In  '  sweet  home's'  tranquil  duties, 
Or  gliding  o'er  Biscay. 

"  A  silver  chain  extendeth 

From  Falmouth  to  the  Nile, 
And  thrills  %vith  soft  vibration 
'Neath  Thy  paternal  smile, 

"  And,  tightening  gently,  draws  us 

Tow'rd  Thee,  and  each  tow'rd  each, 
In  mystical  communion, 
Beyond  expression's  reach. 

"  Most  surely  we  will  trust  Thee, 

Our  Father,  Guardian,  Friend  ; 
Thou  hast  been  with  us  hitherto, 
And  wilt  be  to  the  end." 

R.  B.  F. 
CAIRO,  24/A  November. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
1855- 

"  Beyond  the  smiling  and  the  weeping 

I  shall  be  soon ; 

Beyond  the  waking  and  the  sleeping, 
Beyond  the  sowing  and  the  reaping, 

I  shall  be  soon. 
Love,  rest,  and  home ! 
Sweet  hope ! 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come." — H.  BONAR. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Falmouth,  January  10. — My  poor  dear  afflicted  friend, 
who  can't  enlist ! — I  quite  agree  with  thee,  not  one  word 
about  the  war.  .  .  .  Our  notions  get  a  little  revolutionized 
in  times  like  this.  Pray,  pray  that  whatever  is  Christian  in 
us  may  be  deepened,  strengthened,  vitalized  in  these  times  of 
strong  temptation,  when  so  many  uncertificated  angels  of 
light  are  filling  our  atmosphere  and  bewildering  the  most 
earnest  souls.  My  silence  on  the  subject  of  war  has  like 
thine  reached  the  third  page,  so  I  will  break  it  by  a  winding- 
up  remark  of  my  dear  friend  F.  D.  Maurice  after  a  chat  we 
had  had  on  this  same  topic.  I. — '  Won't  the  world  come  to 
think  with  us  some  day?'  (!)  F.  D.  M. — 'They  will  be 
brought  to  think  rightly  on  the  subject,  though  it  may  be  very 
differently  from  either  you  or  me.'  ' 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T,  Carne. 

"  Falmouth,  January  31. — .   ...  I  am  rather  flattered  to 
find  that  we  are  considered  such  an  easy-going  people,  cap- 
tious only  on  that  one  unmentionable  topic  war !     I  had  fan- 
cied we  were  the  acknowledged  nuisance  of  good  society  from 
324 


JOURNALS  OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  335 

our  multiform  and  multifarious  crotchets  and  'testimonies.' 
Why,  what  a  fuss  we  made  about  the  slave-trade  and  slavery : 
then  there  was  no  peace  with  us  because  the  prisons  must 
needs  be  looked  after ;  then  the  asylums  for  the  insane  must 
be  differently  managed  ;  then  we  positively  refused  to  swear 
on  any  consideration  ;  a  large  majority  of  us  equally  decline 
drinking  anything  more  stimulating  than  coffee,  and  strongly 
urge  the  same  course  on  others ;  then  how  dogged  we  are  in 
practical  protest  against  a  paid  ministry  :  in  fact,  there  is  no 
end  to  our  scrupulosities,  and  we  surely  are  considered  the 
most  difficile  and  bizarre  body  in  Christendom  (if  we  are  to 
be  found  there).  But  perhaps  thy  special  allusion  is  to  our 
not  vigorously  opposing  the  money-getting  spirit  of  the  age. 
Ah,  my  dear  Elizabeth,  there  is  a  grievous  amount  of  truth 
in  this  (supposed)  charge,  but  I  will  say  that  it  is  in  spite  of 
the  earnest  advice  and  beseeching  of  our  official  superiors. 
I  always  try  to  account  for  the  phenomenon  by  remembering 
that  we  are  essentially  a  middle-class  community;  that  among 
us  industry,  perseverance,  and  energy  of  character  are  habit- 
ually cultivated,  and  that  as  our  crotchets  keep  us  out  of 
almost  all  the  higher  walks  of  professional  life,  this  industry, 
perseverance,  and  energy  is  found  in  the  money  market,  and 
is  apt  to  succeed  therein.  All  I  can  say  in  apology  (for  it  does 
require  an  apology)  is  that  the  wealth  we  gain  is  not  generally 
spent  on  ourselves  alone.  But  pray  tell  us  candidly  which  of 
the  other  crying  evils  of  our  country  thou  wouldst  urge  on  our 
attention,  for  there  are  many  listening  for  '  calls'  who  would 
thankfully  take  a  good  hint."  .  .  . 

March  3. — From  Barclay  letters  have  come,  ending  cheer- 
fully from  a  tomb  under  the  shadow  of  the  Pyramids,  with 
the  mild-visaged  Sphinx  as  next-door  neighbor,  and  his  friend 
H.  Taylor  in  the  tent  at  his  side,  four  Arabs  watching  over 
their  slumbers  to  warn  away  wolves  and  Bedouins.  He  is 
feeling  better  for  this  beginning  of  desert  life,  and  chose  the 
old  tomb  because  it  is  warmer  by  night  and  cooler  by  day 
than  the  tent ;  so  he  had  it  fresh  sanded,  and  a  carpet  hung 
before  the  door. 

28 


326  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  Lloyd. 

" '  Falmouth,  April  7. — I  will  not  let  the  week  close  without 
asking  thy  pity  and  thy  prayers.  Ah  !  and  thy  thanksgivings 
too.  For  God  in  His  Fatherly  love  has  been  pleased  to  send 
us  a  great  sorrow  ;  but  consolations  far  beyond  the  sorrow 
He  has  been  pleased  to  grant  also. 

"  It  was  last  Sunday  that  the  tidings  reached  us  that  our 
dearest  Barclay  had -been  called  hence  to  be  forever  with  his 
Lord.  Twenty-four  tranquil,  peaceful,  holy  hours  succeeded 
the  breaking  of  a  blood-vessel,  and  then  he  fell  asleep — liter- 
ally fell  asleep — and  awoke  in  the  Saviour's  arms.  It  was  all 
so  painless,  so  quiet,  so  holy,  that  how  can  we  but  give  thanks, 
and  pray  that  we  may  not  envy  him,  but  rather  bear  our  little 
burdens  faithfully  and  meekly  for  a  few  short  years,  and 
then ! 

"  It  was  so  beautiful  that  he  had  asked  the  missionary 
Lieder  and  his  wife  to  come  and  visit  him  at  his  encampment 
by  the  Pyramids,  because  they  were  in  trouble ;  so  they  came, 
and  had  some  bright,  most  enjoyable  days  together ;  and 
thus,  when  the  last  illness  came  they  nursed  him  with  pa- 
rental tenderness  ;  and  even  after  the  spirit  had  fled,  they 
cared  for  all  that  was  left,  and  watched  beside  him  in  the 
desert.  Mrs.  Lieder  has  kindly  written  most  minute  details 
of  those  days,  and  «//our  thoughts  of  him  are  thoughts  of 
peace.  Even  his  very  last  words  it  is  granted  us  to  know. 
In  answer  to  some  remark  of  Mr.  Lieder's,  he  said,  '  What  a 
mercy  it  is  that  Christ  not  only  frees  us  from  the  guilt  of  sin, 
but  also  delivers  us  from  its  power !'  ' 

April  26. — I  could  fill  volumes  with  remembrances  and 
personal  historiettes  of  interesting  people,  but  for  whom 
should  I  record  them  now?  How  strangely  the  heart  falls 
back  on  itself,  exhausted  and  desolate,  unless  it  gazes  upward 
until  the  clouds  open,  and  then ! 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  327 

Caroline  Fox  to  Clara  Mill. 

"  Penjerrick,  May  7. — And  then  thy  poor  brother,  with  his 
failing  health  and  depressed  spirits,  walking  up  Etna  !  Think 
of  my  boldness,  I  actually  wrote  to  him  !  It  came  over  me 
so  strongly  one  morning  that  Barclay  would  like  him  to  be 
told  how  mercifully  he  had  been  dealt  with,  and  how  true  his 
God  and  Saviour  had  been  to  all  His  promises,  that  I  took 
courage,  and  pen,  and  wrote  a  long  history.  Barclay  had 
been  the  last  of  our  family  who  had  seen  him,  and  he  said 
he  was  very  affectionate,  but  looked  so  grave,  never  smiling 
once  ;  and  he  told  him  that  he  was  about  to  winter  in  the 
South  by  Sir  James  Clark's  order.  I  hope  I  have  not  done 
wrong  or  foolishly,  but  I  do  feel  it  rather  a  solemn  trust  to 
have  such  a  story  to  tell  of  death  robbed  of  its  sting  and  the 
grave  of  its  victory.  It  makes  one  long  to  join  worthily  in 
the  eternal  song  of,  '  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ'  !  I  can  still  report  of 
our  little  party  as  fairly  well,  though  perhaps  feeling  what  an 
earthquake  it  has  been,  not  less  now  than  at  first." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Penjerrick,  June  13. — With  all  my  heart  I  congratulate 
thee  on  being  at  home  once  more, — that  blessed,  blessed, 
essentially  English  luxury.  The  Swiss  have  their  mountains, 
the  French  their  Paris,  the  English  their  home.  Happy 
English  ! 

"  No,  we  have  no  pretext  for  quarrelling  about  St.  Paul,  nor 
even  with  him.  I  have  heard  that  text  thou  quotes,  '  If  in 
this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most 
miserable,'  explained  somewhat  after  this  fashion.  All  the 
nations  around  you — Greek,  Roman,  Asiatics — have  framed 
their  instinct  of  an  after-life  with  some  theory  or  vision  or 
other, — some  Elysian  fields,  some  halls  of  Eblis  or  of  Odin. 
If  you  Christians  ignore  an  existence  after  this  mortal  life, 
how  poor  is  your  conception  of  man's  great  being, — how 
small,  incomplete,  and  false  !  you  are  of  all  men  most  miser- 


328 


MEMORIES   OF   OLD  FRIENDS. 


able.  This,  I  think,  is  rather  more  satisfactory  than  to  con- 
ceive that  St.  Paul  was  whining  over  the  scratches  that  he 
and  his  suffered  along  the  path  of  their  pilgrimage,  as  if  they 
were  an  appreciable  counterbalance  to  the  glorious  joy  of 
their  calling  and  their  faith  even  in  this  present  life.  Are  we 
agreed  ? 

"Something  in  thy  letter  induces  me  to  quote  the  'Heav- 
enly Thought'  appointed  for  this  morning  :  the  speaker  is  Mrs. 
M.  Maitland  :  '  It's  ever  my  thought  that  the  most  God-fearing 
man  should  be  the  most  blythe  man.' 

"Hast  thou  read  Kingsley's  'Westward  Ho'?  It  is  very 
magnanimous  in  me  to  name  him,  for  it  is  all  in  thy  interest ; 
a  fine  foe-exterminating  book  of  Elizabeth's  time,  done  and 
written  in  the  religious  spirit  of  Joshua  and  David.  For 
Spaniards  read  Russians,  and  it  is  truly  a  tract  for  the  times, 
selon  toi. ' ' 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"November  16. — Papa  has  been  busy  making  bottled  com- 
passes for  Brunei's  great  ship,  who  begged  him  to  get  at  some 
magnetic  results  for  him,  but  papa  must  experiment  in  the 
neighborhood  of  much  larger  masses  of  iron  than  he  can 
scrape  together  here.  One  thing,  however,  he  has  made  out, 
that  a  needle  suspended  in  water  becomes  quiet  in  its  true 
position  wonderfully  sooner  than  when,  as  usual,  hung  in 
air ;  hence  bottled  compasses.  But  if  thou  and  Dr.  Gum- 
ming say  that  the  world  is  at  its  last  gasp,  what  is  the  use  of 
inventing  any  worldly  thing,  when  either  destruction  or  in- 
tuition is  so  nigh  at  hand  ?  The  dear  old  world  !  one  certainly 
fancied  it  in  its  very  infancy  blundering  over  BA  ba,  AB  ab  ; 
but  it  may  be  dotage,  for  truly  one  sees  people  nowadays  quite 
biases  at  twenty.  Which  was  its  period  of  manhood  ?  I  sup- 
pose Kingsley  would  not  hesitate  in  giving  it  to  the  reign  of 
our  Elizabeth.  But  Kingsley  is  no  prophet  of  mine,  however 
much  he  may  sometimes  rejoice  and  at  others  strike  me  with 
awe.  Ah  !  and  that  would  only  apply  to  England  ;  and,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  nothing  short  of  the  destruction  of  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  329 

world  would  satisfy  Dr.  Gumming.  Oh  !  the  comfort  and 
blessing  of  knowing  that  our  future  is  in  other  hands  than 
Dr.  Cumming's  !  how  restful  it  makes  one,  and  so  willing  to 
have  the  veil  still  closely  drawn  which  separates  Now  from 
Then.  It  often  strikes  me  that  one  must  look  forward  to 
some  catastrophe  for  London,  similar  in  spirit,  however  di- 
verse in  form,  to  what  befell  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  and  Pal- 
myra; buttlje  How  and  When.  .  .  . 

"Ah,  yes'i  I  admit  sorrowfully  enough  that  there  has  been 
a  canker  in  Csur  Perif  £,  that  we  have  not  received  it  in  a  holy 
enough  spirit  Or  »u-ivd  it  to  highest  uses  ;  and  yet  in  reading, 
as  I  have  just  done,  the  history  of  the  '  Thirty  Years'  Peace' 
(it  is  by  H.  Martineau,  and  I  can't  help  it  !),  one  cannot  but 
feel  that  those  thirty  years  were  not  wasted  ;  that  great  strides 
were  made  in  the  right  direction,  towards  education,  mutual 
comprehension  of  nations,  classes,  and  individuals,  sympathy 
with  the  weak  and  suffering,  and  a  few  other  things.  Of 
course  th;..  _  is  neither  time  nor  money  now  for  carrying  out 
many  of  the  ideas  which  have  been  the  slow  growth  of  time 
and  pain  ;  but,  if  we  are  even  now  learning  deeper  lessons 
than  those  which  have  been  suspended,  we  will  thank  our 
Teacher,  not  sullenly  as  a  mere  onerous  duty,  but  with  mar- 
velling childlike  trust ;  at  least,  we  will  try  to  do  so.  ... 

"  Oh,  I  do  like  what  thou  says  about  division  of  labor,  and 
qualified  people  taking  the  simple  generalship  in  all  depart- 
ments, and  choosing  their  colonels,  adjutants,  and  sergeants, 
instead  of  doing  the  privates'  work  themselves,  though  doubt- 
less they  ought  to  be  capable  of  that  too.  As  to  '  malign  in- 
fluences,' I  generally  feel  myself  thoroughly  guilty  of  my 
own  sins,  and  desire  more  to  be  delivered  from  a  weak  or 
rebel  will  than  from  Satanic  power ;  but  in  this,  as  in  most 
other  things,  I  may  be  very  much  mistaken.  We  shall  know 
by  and  by." 

28* 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
1856. 

"  Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our 
Shades  of  the  prison-house 

Upon  the  growing  L 
The  youth  who  daily  farther  fr< 
Must  travel.  .  .  . 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 
Is  on  his  way  attended  ; 
At  length  the  Man  perceives  it  die  away 
Andfade  into  the  light  of  common  day." — WORDSWORTH. 

Penjerrick,  March  2. — Sir  Charles  Lemon  and  his  sister 
paid  us  a  visit :  as  an  illustration  of  Macaulay's  preternatural 
quickness,  he  mentioned  a  friend  of  his  travelling  with  him 
and  reading  a  new  book  which  Macaulay  had  not  seen.  The 
friend  grew  weary  and  indulged  in  a  ten  minutes'  sleep; 
on  awaking,  they  resumed  their  talk,  which  fell  on  topics 
apropos  of  the  book,  when  Macaulay  was  full  of  quotations, 
judgments,  and  criticisms.  "But  I  thought  you  had  not 
seen  it,"  said  his  friend.  "Oh,  yes;  when  you  were  asleep 
I  looked  at  it;"  and  it  seemed  as  if  no  corner  of  it  were 
unexplored. 

March  29. — One  of  my  poor  friends,  Mrs.  Bastin,  told  me 
of  having,  whilst  living  in  Liverpool,  passed  for  dead  after 
cholera  for  twenty-four  hours;  the  authorities  wanted  her 
buried,  but  her  brother-in-law,  a  pious  man,  declared,  "  No, 
she  don't  look  like  death,  she  was  not  prepared  to  die,  and 
no  one  shall  go  near  her  but  me."  So  he  rubbed  and  prayed, 
and  prayed  and  rubbed,  and  at  last  her  life  was  restored  to 
her  thankful  family.  In  the  very  next  court  lived  a  man  who 
had  to  go  away  for  a  day  or  two,  so  he  said  to  his  wife,  "  If 
you  are  taken  ill,  send  for  So-and-so."  In  a  few  hours  she 
330 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  33 1 

was  taken  ill  of  that  terrible  cholera,  and  had  the  indicated 
doctor.  A  few  hours  later  he  said  she  was  dead,  and  the 
next  morning  her  funeral  left  the  house.  On  its  way  to  the 
cemetery  it  met  her  husband  ;  he  said,  "You  may  do  what 
you  like  with  me,  but  you  sha'n't  bury  my  wife  till  I've 
looked  on  her :"  so  the  funeral  party  turned  round  and  accom- 
panied him  home.  Then  he  had  the  coffin-lid  removed,  and 
drew  out  his  wife  and  laid  her  on  the  bed,  reminding  them 
of  what  had  happened  at  the  Bastins'.  He  too  rubbed,  and, 
I  hope,  prayed,  and  in  time  her  life  returned;  and  many 
times  after  that  dM  ii'.u  two  women  meet  and  exchange  notes 
about  their  strange  and  awful  experience. 

Bury  Hill,  June  20. — Met  the  author  of  "Proverbial  Phi- 
losophy," and  heard  him  expatiate  on  the  beautiful  scene 
before  him,  and  not  in  hexameters.  He  is  a  happy,  little, 
blue-eyed  man,  who  evidently  enjoys  talking,  but  does  not 
approach  the  dignity  of  his  didactic  poem. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

1 '  Penjerrick,  June  27. — What  can  I  tell  of  our  London 
interests  ?  The  Yearly  Meeting  ?  No,  that  thou  wouldst  be 
sure  to  treat  profanely.  The  luminous  fountain  at  the  Pan- 
technicon ?  Well,  it  was  very  beautiful,  leaping  up  to  the 
top  of  the  dome,  and  being  flooded  from  thence  with  color. 
The  Nineveh  Marbles?  We  saw  them,  in  a  very  edifying 
manner,  under  the  convoy  of  Edward  Oldfield,  who  made 
the  old  life  live  again  for  us  with  marvellous  vividness  and 
authenticity.  And  the  Print  Room,  containing  also  the 
drawings  of  the  old  masters,  Cellini's  beautiful  vase,  and 
Albert  Durer's  marvellous  carving.  Oh  !  and  the  Peace  fire- 
works and  illuminations,  which  I  saw  so  well  from  the  top  of 
our  friend's  house,  and  which  were  indeed  excitingly  beau- 
tiful. Or  the  blaze  of  azaleas  and  rhododendrons  at  Bury 
Hill?  Or  Tupper,  the  Proverbial  Philosopher?  from  whom 
I  heard  neither  philosophy  nor  proverb ;  the  Coleridges,  and 
Christabel's  birthday  fete  ?  a  picturesque  garden  party  around 
her  June-pole.  Or  Oxford  ?  where  we  spent  a  few  glorious 


332 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


hours,  subdued,  overawed  by  the  sense  of  age  and  nationality 
which  seems  to  fill  the  place.  Professor  Maskelyne  did  the 
honors  charmingly  ;  and  Merton,  and  Magdalene,  the  Bod- 
leian, the  Radcliffe,  the  Clarendon,  the  Theatre,  the  shaded 
cloisters  and  the  beautiful  gardens,  all  leave  such  an  impres- 
sion on  the  memory  and  imagination  as  I  should  feel  much 
the  poorer  for  lacking.  And  then  they  are  building  a  won- 
derful museum,  with  a  glass  Gothic  dome  or  roof,  and  one  or 
two  hundred  pillars  of  British  marbles  interspersed  among  the 
masonry.  They  have  beautiful  red  serpentine,  but  not  the 
green :  would  it  be  very  difficult  or  expensive  to  supply  them 
with  one?  I  was  delighted  to  hear  of  their  successful  experi- 
ment to  unite  Town  and  Gown  by  a  working-man's  college; 
about  two  hundred  town  students  have  now  mustered,  and  a 
capital  staff  of  collegians  are  delighted  to  teach  them.  They 
talk  of  one  for  the  women,  too,  but  ladies  are  not  numerous 
at  Oxford.  .  .  .  Fare  thee  well,  good  Queen  Bess.  With 
much  love  from  Penjerrick  to  Penzance,  thy  ever-affection- 
ate,—C.  F." 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  Penjerrick,  August  29. — We  have  embarked  on  a  beau- 
tiful book,  Arthur  Stanley's  'Palestine:'  thou  wouldst  be 
much  interested  in  it,  I  think.  He  writes  charmingly,  seeing 
things  so  clearly,  and  seeing  them  in  their  bearings,  geo- 
graphical and  otherwise,  like  a  true  pupil  of  Dr.  Arnold's ; 
and  there  is  such  a  high  and  thoughtful  tone  over  it  all."  .  .  . 

September  5. — M.  A.  Schimmelpenninck  is  gone.  She  said, 
just  before  her  death,  "  Oh,  I  hear  such  beautiful  voices,  and 
the  children's  are  the  loudest !" 

November  8. — Well,  I  have  heard  and  seen  Gavazzi :  his 
subject  was  "  The  Inquisition,  its  Causes  and  Consequences;" 
his  moral,  "  Beware,  Englishmen,  of  the  tendencies  to  hier- 
archy in  your  country  when  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge  is 
introduced:  it  will  work  its  way  on  to  all  this."  He  is  most 
dramatic,  has  a  brilliant  power  of  comedy,  and  some  terrible 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  333 

flashes  of  tragedy  in  him;  it  is  all  action  and  gesticulation, 
such  as  would  be  intolerable  in  an  Englishman,  but  as  an 
Italian  characteristic  it  is  all  kindly  welcome,  and  certainly 
most  telling.  But  notes  of  his  discourse  would  be  very  poor : 
it  was  the  mannei  that  made  his  words  so  desperately  vivid. 
He  died,  dreadfully  for  us,  under  the  torture  of  the  wet  linen 
on  the  face :  it  made  every  one  breathe  thick,  and  two  ladies 
had  to  leave  the  room.  I  take  him  for  a  very  clever  man, 
and  in  earnest  in  his  politico-religious  mission  to  England. 
He  ended  with  a  solemn  benediction  and  prayer  for  the  future 
of  this  country. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
1857- 

"  A  sacred  burden  is  the  life  ye  bear; 
Look  on  it,  lift  it,  bear  it  solemnly  ; 
Stand  up  and  walk  beneath  it  steadfastly ; 
Fail  not  for  sorrow,  falter  not  for  sin ; 
But  onward,  upward,  till  the  goal  ye  win ; 
God  guard  ye,  and  God  guide  ye  on  your  way, 
Young  pilgrim-warriors,  who  set  forth  to-day." 

Penjerrick,  January  i. — A  new  book  and  a  New  Year! 
\\hat  will  they  contain  ?  May  God  keep  evil  out  of  them, 
and  all  will  be  well. 

January  10. — George  Smith  dined  here,  and  gave  a  good, 
easy,  conversational  lecture  on  the  recent  Assyrian  and  Egyp- 
tian discoveries,  and  their  connection  with  Scripture  history. 
The  elaborate  records  found  in  the  vast  palaces  of  Senna- 
cherib and  others,  engraved  in  cuneiform  characters,  are  most 
remarkable.  There  is  Sennacherib's  description  of  the  very 
unfortunate  affair  with  Hezekiah,  told  after  the  fashion  of 
Napoleon's  bulletins.  Cyrus,  George  Smith  says,  was  the 
first  who  had  the  idea  of  founding  an  empire ;  previous  con- 
querors only  accumulated  tributary  provinces.  He  thinks 
that  civilization  and  knowledge  of  the  arts  is  rather  retro- 
than  pro-gressive,  and  is  severe  on  all  who  think  otherwise. 
Adam  and  Eve,  he  holds,  were  perfect  in  all  science,  litera- 
ture, and  art,  and  ever  since  their  time  we  have  been  steadily 
forgetting.  I  like  his  face,  so  full  of  honesty,  sense,  and 
kindliness. 

January  12. — Reading  "  Never  Too  Late  to  Mend,"  one  of 
the  weightiest  events  of  late.     Oh,  those  prison  scenes  !  how 
they  haunt  one  !     How  they  recall  those  despairing  women's 
eyes  I  met  in  the  model  jail  at  Belfast ! 
334 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  335 

April  2. — Ernest  de  Bunsen  is  with  us.  I  wish  I  could 
chronicle  a  great  deal  of  his  talk ;  it  is  marvellously  vivid, 
and  he  seems  equally  at  home  in  all  regions  of  human  thought : 
deep  metaphysics,  devout  theology,  downright  boyish  merry- 
making, the  most  tangled  complexities  of  court  intrigues ; 
and  then  his  singing  !  He  is  truly  a  man  of  infinite  apti- 
tudes. Took  him  to  Carclew,  where  he  was  a  perfect  bottle 
of  champagne  to  Sir  Charles ;  and  to  Roscrow,  where  the 
boys  were  lost  in  admiration  and  delight.  He  has  been 
translating  William  Penn's  life  into  German,  and  sent  a  copy 
to  Humboldt,  from  whom  he  has  received  two  charming 
letters  about  it,  in  one  saying  that  he  has  read  every  word, 
and  that  the  contemplation  of  such  a  life  has  contributed  to 
the  peace  of  his  old  age.  We  had  German  hymns,  original 
and  of  olden  time,  very  full  of  devout  thought  as  well  as 
feeling.  Then  he  sang  Handel's  "  Comfort  ye,  my  People," 
and  "Thou  wilt  not  leave  His  Soul  in  Hell,"  and  Haydn's 
"Creation  of  Eve;"  the  one  so  mighty  and  overwhelming 
in  its  grandeur  and  expressiveness,  the  other  so  varied,  pic- 
turesque, and  exquisite.  At  Tregedna  we  had  one  deep- 
hearted  Irish  melody,  and  one  Sicilian,  full  of  love  and 
patriotism  and  triumphant  hope.  He  is  perfectly  ingenuous 
about  his  voice.  At  Heidelberg  three  Bunsen  brothers  and  a 
brother-in-law  would  sing  quartettes.  In  the  course  of  our  talk 
he  said,  "  Forgive  to  the  fullest  extent  and  in  the  freest  spirit, 
but  never  forget  anything :  it  is  all  intended  to  be  a  lesson  to 
profit  our  after-life,  for  there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance." 

April  5. — Heard  Professor  Nichol's  lecture  at  Truro,  when 
for  two  hours  he  held  us  poised  in  those  high  regions, 
until  we  felt  quite  at  home  among  the  nebulae,  gazing  on  them 
with  reverence  and  love,  rejoicing  in  their  docility  and  law. 
He  came  to  us  afterwards,  and  we  had  much  talk  about  his 
own  subjects  and  mutual  friends.  He  has  a  fine  head,  and 
his  face  is  a  very  scintillating  one ;  he  looks  most  happy  in 
his  expositions  of  those  occult  facts;  a  sloping  imaginative 
forehead,  a  light-blue  eye,  and  an  affectionate  trusting  ex- 
pression beaming  over  the  whole  countenance. 


336  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

June  12. — Warrington  Smyth  talked  with  great  delight  of 
Florence  Nightingale.  Long  ago,  before  she  went  to  Kaisers- 
werth,  he  and  Sir  Henry  de  la  Beche  dined  at  her  father's, 
and  Florence  Nightingale  sat  between  them.  She  began  by 
drawing  Sir  Henry  out  on  geology,  and  charmed  him  by 
the  boldness  and  breadth  of  her  views,  which  were  not  com- 
mon then.  She  accidentally  proceeded  into  regions  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  and  then  our  geologist  had  to  get  out  of  it.  She 
was  fresh  from  Egypt,  and  began  talking  with  W.  Smyth  about 
the  inscriptions,  etc.,  where  he  thought  he  could  do  pretty 
well ;  but  when  she  began  quoting  Lepsius,  which  she  had 
been  studying  in  the  original,  he  was  in  the  same  case  as  Sir 
Henry.  When  the  ladies  left  the  room,  the  latter  said  to  him, 
"A  capital  young  lady  that,  if  she  hadn't  so  floored  me  with 
her  Latin  and  Greek  !" 

July  9. — We  are  reading  the  Life  of  Charlotte  Bronte,  a 
most  striking  book.  Genius  as  she  was,  she  is  beautifully  at- 
tentive to  the  smallest  practical  matters  affecting  the  comforts 
of  others.  She  is  intensely  true,  and  draws  from  actual  life, 
cost  what  it  may;  and  in  that  remote  little  world  of  hers — 
a  village,  as  it  seems,  of  a  hundred  years  back — facts  came  to 
light  of  a  frightful  unmitigated  force;  events  accompanied 
them,  burning  with  a  lurid  glow  and  setting  their  very  hearts 
on  fire.  She  is  like  her  books,  and  her  life  explains  much  in 
them  which  needs  explanation. 

Dublin,  August  22. — Paying  diligent  attention  to  some  sec- 
tions of  the  British  Association's  meeting,  which  is  held  in 
the  new  building  at  the  College,  gorgeous  with  marbles  and 
arabesques.  Father  read  his  paper  on  the  temperature  in 
mines  in  the  Geological  Section,  though  Section  A  cried  out 
vehemently  for  it.  He  read  it  well,  and  when  Dr.  Forbes 
disputed  some  of  the  facts,  thinking  that  the  heat  might  be 
referred  to  decomposition  of  metals,  etc.,  papa  answered 
very  well  and  with  no  nervousness,  and  Lord  Talbot  de  Mala- 
hide,  the  President,  made  him  a  very  handsome  speech  of 
acknowledgment,  complimenting  him  on  the  honesty  of  his 
facts,  so  uncooked  for  the  occasion,  and  spoke  of  him  as  a 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  337 

veteran  in  the  cause  of  science,  and  trusted  to  welcoming 
him  at  these  meetings  for  many  years.  Met  F.  Burton  there  ; 
a  sharp-eyed,  agreeable  man,  who  told  us  of  the  group  of 
Goethe  and  Schiller  about  to  be  inaugurated  at  Weimar.  Dr. 
Lloyd  told  us  of  a  happy  turn  which  Lord  Carlisle  gave  to  an 
incident  before  the  first  British  Association  meeting  at  York. 
A  coin  had  been  found  whose  inscription  they  could  not  read, 
until  on  applying  heat  out  came  the  words,  "Deo  gloria." 
"Thus,"  saith  Lord  Carlisle,  "when  the  torch  of  science  is 
faithfully  applied  to  dark  subjects,  '  Deo  gloria'  is  always  the 
result  it  brings." 

August  28. — An  extremely  interesting  collection  of  African 
explorers, — Dr.  Barth,  De  1'Abbadie,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  ; 
discussed  the  risings  of  African  rivers,  and  why  the  Niger  got 
up  so  much  later  than  the  others.  This  was  supposed  to  be 
from  the  second  flow  of  rains  on  the  high  table-land  near  its 
source,  which  so  swells  it  that  about  once  in  six  years  it 
reaches  the  outskirts  of  Timbuctoo,  and  betweenwhiles  evap- 
orates, so  as  to  leave  only  tables  and  dry  ground  between. 
Dr.  Barth  gave  a  strictly  geographical  history  of  his  explora- 
tions, and  mourned  over  the  deaths  of  Vogel  and  Pattison. 
He  is  a  well-burnt,  hard-featured,  indomitable  sort  of  man  ; 
De  1'Abbadie  very  dark  in  complexion,  hair,  and  eyes,  with 
a  singular  pose  in  his  head,  as  if,  said  some  one,  he  were 
accustomed  to  wear  a  pig-tail.  Dr.  Livingstone  tall,  thin, 
earnest-looking,  and  business-like  ;  far  more  given,  I  should 
say,  to  do  his  work  than  to  talk  about  it.  Finished  the 
evening  with  supper  and  gossip  with  the  wise  men  at  the" 
President's. 

August  29. — A  grand  dinner  and  soiree  to  all  the  savants 
at  the  vice -regal  lodge.  Papa  enjoyed  it  greatly,  as  it  gave 
him  a  two  hours'  tete-a-tete  with  Dr.  Robinson.  There  was 
quite  a  row  when  the  gentlemen  wanted  their  hats,  terrible 
confusion  and  outcry  :  never  before  had  a  broad-brim  so  jus- 
tified itself  in  my  eyes;  it  was  found  at  once  and  restored  to 
its  owner,  whilst  I  had  to  leave  poor  General  Sabine  in  a 
mass  of  perplexities. 

p  29 


338  MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carrie. 

Penjerrick,  September  5. —  ...  Papa  and  I  returned  yes- 
terday from  Dublin  (so  I'm  not  going  to  talk  about  most 
wretched  India  and  all  my  poor  young  cousins  there),  where  a 
most  successful  British  Association  meeting  hath  been  holden. 
We  were  with  our  dear  friends  the  Lloyds,  which  was  not  the 
least  pleasant  part  of  the  affair.  Socially  and  scientifically 
it  has  been  all  very  brilliant, — from  our  dear  President's 
opening  address  to  the  viceroy's  magnificent  reception  at  the 
Castle.  The  committee  (a  hundred  or  so)  dined  there,  and 
we  went  in  the  evening.  Naturally  it  was  the  gayest  scene  I 
have  ever  been  in,  but  the  viceroy  was  so  good-natured,  and 
there  were  so  many  interesting  people  to  chat  with,  that  after 
the  first  solemnities  of  presentation  it  was  a  very  pleasant 
evening.  Of  course  not  so  pleasant  as  a  home  one  over  read- 
ing and  drawing  ;  but  still  very  pleasant  as  things  go.  Dr. 
Livingstone's  lecture  I  should  like  everybody  to  have  heard. 
People  say  it  was  signally  lacking  in  arrangement,  but  I  have 
no  nose  for  logic ;  I  thought  one  just  mounted  his  ox  and 
went  on  behind  him  among  those  loving,  trusting,  honest, 
generous  natives  of  his,  first  to  the  eastern  coast,  then  to  the 
western.  So  much  of  the  future  of  Africa  seemed  to  lie  in 
his  aperfues :  the  navigability  of  the  Zambesi  except  one 
rapid  part  which,  of  course,  English  ingenuity  would  soon 
calm,  the  healthiness  of  the  district,  the  disposition  of  the 
district,  the  disposition  of  the  natives  for  commerce,  and  the 
abundance  of  material, — all  this  was  very,  very  cheering. 
And  almost  even  more  so  than  that  was  his  assurance  that 
the  Niger  Expedition  had  not  been  made  in  vain  ;  that  fre- 
quently in  the  interior,  and  more  and  more  as  he  approached 
the  coasts,  he  found  there  had  been  tidings  of  a  white  nation 
who  loved  black  people ;  and  he  reaped  abundant  benefit 
from  this  prestige.  Oh,  if  Sir  Fowell  Buxton  might  have 
known  it !  But  doubtless  he  (foes,  and  gives  glory  where 
alone  it  is  due.  Dr.  Livingstone,  the  Whateleys,  etc.,  came 
to  the  Lloyds'  after  the  lecture,  and  the  ladies  agreed  on 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  339 

sending  a  sugar-cane  press  to  his  chief  in  remembrance  of 
that  evening.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  quiet  fun  about  Dr. 
Livingstone  ;  he  would  pair  off  some  African  barbarism  with 
some  English  civilization  with  great  point.  For  instance, 
some  of  his  Africans  wear  hoops  on  their  heads,  with  their 
wool  drawn  out  to  it,  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel ;  '  but, 
poor  people  !  they  are  not  at  all  civilized  ;  they  put  their 
hoops  in  the  wrong  place;  they'll  know  better  by  and  by.' 
Also  the  rain-making  of  that  country,  and  the  table-turning 
and  spirit-rapping  of  ours,  the  news  whereof  reached  him 
there  and  rather  surprised  him.  But  most  one  admires  the 
earnest  simplicity  of  the  man,  who  always  seemed  as  if  he 
had  so  much  rather  be  doing  his  work  than  talking  about  it. 
I  long  for  him  to  be  at  it  again,  for  if  people  can  spoil  him, 
they  will, — such  is  the  height  of  his  popularity." 

Ftilmoitth,  October  16. — The  Ernest  de  Bunsens  are  with 
us ;  he  read  us  last  night  Mendelssohn's  "  Elijah,"  illustrating 
it  whenever  he  could  with  such  exquisite  feeling,  power,  and 
pathos.  The  last  time  he  saw  Mendelssohn,  they  had  played 
and  sung  several  things  together,  when  Mendelssohn  asked 
for  one  more.  He  chose  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  Death,  and 
I  will  give  thee  a  Crown  of  Life."  When  he  had  ended, 
Mendelssohn  slipped  away  from  the  room,  overcome  with 
emotion.  Ernest  de  Bunsen  followed  him;  he  said,  "Gott 
segue  euch  alle, ' '  and  was  gone. 

October  27. — T.  Bourne  lives  at  Rugby,  and  told  us  many 
things  of  Dr.  Arnold,  whom  he  knew,  though  slightly.  The 
Duchess  of  Sutherland  wrote  to  ask  if  she  might  attend  the 
school  chapel,  and  arrived  at  the  little  inn  one  Saturday, 
where  Dr.  Arnold  found  her  and  brought  her  to  his  own 
house  for  a  day  or  two.  This  was  not  long  before  his  death, 
on  which  occasion  she  sent  Mrs.  Arnold  one  hundred  pounds, 
begging  it  might  be  spent  in  some  little  memorial  fashion. 
Mrs.  Arnold  proposed  giving  copies  of  his  forthcoming  vol- 
ume of  sermons  to  each  of  the  three  hundred  boys  ;  this  the 
duchess  liked,  but  desired  that  it  should  be  done  in  Mrs. 

28* 


340 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


Arnold's  name.  It  was  not  until  his  death  that  people  felt 
what  he  was  ;  before  that  it  often  required  some  courage  to 
speak  well  of  him  in  "  religious  society  !" 

November  15. — P<ipa  has  had  the  great  interest  and  satis- 
faction of  seeing  the  theory  of  stratification  being  caused  by 
pressure,  well  disproved,  and  his  own  conviction  of  its  being 
produced  by  an  inherent  crystallizing  power  in  rocks,  call  it 
chemical  galvanism  or  what  you  will,  well  confirmed,  by  find- 
ing that  a  great  lump  of  clay,  thrown  aside  from  Pennance 
Mine  some  five  years  ago,  has  arranged  itself  in  thin  laminae, 
just  like  the  ordinary  clay  slate.  This  seems  to  determine  a 
vexed  question  in  geology. 


CHAPTER    XXIV, 
1858. 

"We  turn'd  o'er  many  books  together." — SHAKESPEARE. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E,  T.  Came. 

Falmouth,  January  5. — I  did  dearly  love  thy  last  letter  ;  it 
was  the  most. earnest,  friendly  New  Year's  greeting  that  had 
reached  me,  and  it  called  up  a  deep  Amen  from  my  dull  and 
sleepy  heart.  Thy  facts,  too,  were  so  very  cheery  and  thank- 
worthy. Yes,  let  us  take  all  the  Christmas  blessings  along 
with  us  on  our  New  Year's  road.  Whether  muddy  or  dusty 
or  rutty,  or  neatly  macadamized  and  well  trodden,  with  fair 
and  quiet  scenery  around,  or  Alpine  gorges  and  Alpine 
heights,  what  matter?  Really  and  deliberately  I  would  de- 
sire to  repeat — What  matter?  If  He  who  knows  the  road, 
and  knows  our  capacities  and  our  needs,  is  but  with  us,  would 
we  wish  to  take  the  guidance  out  of  His  hands?  I  trow  not. 
And  so  welcome  to  the  beautiful  New  Year,  and  may  we  wel- 
come all  it  may  bring  us  of  joy  or  sorrow,  and  learn  the  les- 
sons hidden  in  each.  And  thus  I  echo  back  thy  New  Year's 
greeting.  And  I  accept  thy  idea  of  the  marked  blessings  de- 
signed for  us  in  these  marked  periods  of  life, — times  for  draw- 
ing up,  pausing,  looking  backwards  and  forwards,  and  then 
stepping  on  with  fresh  vigor  along  the  path  appointed  for 
you, — not  anybody  else's  path,  however  it  may  exceed  your 
own  in  goodness  and  brightness  and  usefulness;  you  would 
blunder  and  fall  there,  even  with  the  best  intentions. 

"Of  Buckle's  book  I  have  only  heard  through  Lady  Tre- 
lawny,  who  thinks  it  a  most  remarkable  work,  full  of  genius, 
power,  and  insight ;  the  first  volume  seems  mainly  prelimi- 
nary and  introductory  to  a  long  series, — a  German-like  be- 

29*  34i 


342 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


ginning!    But  I  shall  hear  more  about  it  soon,  as  we  go  to 
Carclew,  to  be  with  her  for  a  day  or  two,  to-morrow." 

January  10. — George  Cook  had  much  to  tell  of  the  Car- 
lyles.  He  has  just  finished  two  volumes  of  "Frederick  the 
Great,"  which  has  been  a  weary  work.  He  seems  to  grow 
drearier  and  drearier;  his  wife  still  full  of  life  and  power  and 
sympathy,  spite  of  the  heavy  weight  of  domestic  dyspepsia. 
Kingsley  pays  him  long  visits,  and  comes  away  talking  just 
like  him:  "Why,  if  a  man  will  give  himself  over  to  serve 
the  devil,  God  will  just  give  him  over  to  his  choice  to  see 
how  he  likes  it,"  etc.  Whilst  in  Paris,  G.  Cook  has  been 
much  in  Ary  Scheffer's  studio,  where  a  little  musical  party  in- 
dulge in  quartettes  amidst  all  the  art  visions  lying  about  the 
room. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

11  January  25. — Thy  peep  into  Buckle  is  very  interesting, 
and  quite  confirms  Lady  Trelawny's  view  ;  she  found  it  very 
fascinating  and  most  masterly,  whilst  much  of  his  reasoning 
she  could  not  at  all  go  along  with.  When  I  read  thy  remarks 
on  him  to  papa,  he  thought  thee  most  right  in  the  abstract, 
but  that  the  facts  of  general  history  supported  Buckle's  view. 
How  many  of  our  special  views  and  consequent  acts,  for  in- 
stance, arose  from  the  'accident'  of  birth,  the  opinions  of 
those  among  whom  we  are  educated,  and  so  on.  But  very 
likely  we  have  not  got  hold  of  a  hair  of  his  tail :  so  I'll  cut 
short  the  paternal  eloquence." 

November  12. — Heard  Thomas  Cooper  lecture  on  his  own 
vagaries,  practical  and  speculative,  and  their  solution.  He 
began  by  an  autobiographical  sketch,  dwelling  on  the  mis- 
chief done  by  inconsistent  professors,  who  seemed  to  have 
badgered  him  out  of  Methodism  into  scepticism  ;  then,  see- 
ing the  cruel  wrongs  of  the  stocking-weavers  of  Leicester, 
drove  him  into  Chartism;  he  was  in  the  thick  of  a  bad  riot, 
much  of  which  he  encouraged,  but  he  did  not  intend  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  343 

incendiary  part  of  it.  However,  he  was  taken  up  and  con- 
victed of  sedition,  and  imprisoned  for  two  years.  Then  and 
there  he  sank  the  lowest,  in  loveless,  hopeless  unbelief.  His 
study  of  Robert  Owen,  and  discovery  of  the  fallacy  of  his 
reasonings,  seemed  to  do  much  to  bring  him  round  again  ; 
and  then  going  about  England  with  Wyld's  model  of  Sebas- 
topol  seemed  to  have  had  some  mysterious  influence  for 
good ;  and  here  he  is, — convert,  confessor,  and  reasoner. 
He  is  a  square-built  man,  with  a  powerful,  massive  face ;  he 
walks  up  and  down  the  platform  and  talks  on  as  if  he  were  in 
a  room,  with  extreme  clearness,  excellent  choice  of  language, 
and  good  pronunciation,  considering  that  he  was  formerly  a 
poor  shoemaker  and  had  to  teach  himself  the  much  he  has 
learned. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 
1859. 

"  My  eyes  are  dim  with  childish  tears, 

My  heart  is  idly  stirred, 
For  the  same  sound  is  in  my  ears 
Which  in  those  days  I  heard."  —  WORDSWORTH. 

Penjerrick,  January  i.  —  I  will  commence  the  year  with 
Raleigh's  noble  words  : 

"  O  eloquent  and  mighty  Death  !  whom  none  could  advise, 
thou  hast  persuaded  ;  what  none  have  dared,  thou  hast  done  ; 
and  whom  all  the  world  hath  flattered,  thou  only  hast  cast 
out  of  the  world  and  despised  :  thou  hast  drawn  together  all 
the  far-stretched  greatness,  all  the  pride,  cruelty,  and  ambition 
of  man,  and  covered  it  all  over  with  these  two  narrow  words, 


June  5.  —  Settled  once  more  into  dear,  beautiful  home-life, 
the  near  and  distant  memories  being  all  so  living  and  precious 
beyond  all  words.  The  welcomes  from  dear  home  friends, 
rich  and  poor,  have  been  truly  heart-warming,  and  it  is  de- 
lightful to  be  able  right  honestly  to  rejoice  with  them  in  being 
at  home  once  more. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Penjerrick,  June  24.  —  So  thou  canst  see  nothing  fitting 
for  Italy  but  slavery  to  some  foreign  power  or  other,  and  this 
spite  of  all  that  Sardinia  has  done  for  herself  and  her  neigh- 
bors in  the  last  few  years.  Read  About  's  desperately  keen 
book,  '  La  Question  Romaine,'  and  admit  that  against  frightful 
odds  there  is  a  national  spirit  still  and  that  there  are  genuine 
men  in  that  nation.  Doubtless  their  history  through  the 
Middle  Ages  tells  of  anything  but  unity  ;  but  there  is  a  great 
344 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  ^- 

thirst  for  it  now  in  many  quarters.  Unquestionably  the 
present  state  of  things  is  wrong  :  if  God  overrules  even  the 
iniquities  of  this  war  to  give  them  some  taste  of  liberty,  don't 
let  us  begrudge  it  them.  Rather  let  us  join  the  many  who 
are  earnestly  praying  that  they  may  become  indeed  a  free  and 
Christian  nation.  Even  if  the  French  should  take  the  posi- 
tion of  Austria  with  regard  to  them,  the  tyranny  would  be 
much  milder,  religious  liberty  would  be  secured,  and,  as  the 
poor  Fratelli  in  Tuscany  are  crying  out,  'We  sha'n't  be 
imprisoned  for  the  Bible  any  more  !'  " 

September  4. — A  full  week  has  driven  by.  We  spent  two 
days  at  Carclew  with  Dr.  Whewell  and  his  wife,  Lady  Afleck. 
He  was  as  urbane  and  friendly  as  needs  be,  and  seemed  deter- 
mined to  live  down  Sydney  Smith's  quiz  about  astronomy 
being  his  forte,  and  omniscience  his  foible ;  for  he  rarely  chose 
to  know  more  about  things  than  other  people,  though  we  per- 
severingly  plied  him  with  all  manner  of  odds  and  ends  of 
difficulties.  There  is  a  capital  element  of  fun  in  that  vast 
head  of  his;  witness  his  caricatures  of  Sedgwick  in  his  Cor- 
nish Sketch-Book.  He  made  me  notice  the  darkness  of  sky 
between  two  rainbows,  a  fact  only  lately  secured,  and  a  part, 
he  says,  of  the  whole  theory  of  the  rainbow.  Speaking  of 
some  book  he  had  written  with  a  touch  of  architecture  in  it, 
he  said,  "There  are  many  wise  things  in  it,  but  I'm  wiser 
still !"  which  he  hoped  was  a  modest  way  of  stating  the  case. 
He  declines  throwing  light  on  the  axe-heads  which  are  making 
such  a  stir,  thinking  there  is  no  need  for  such  hurry,  and  only 
tossing  to  one  the  theory  of  the  greater  age  of  man  than  is 
now  admitted.  Of  the  working-men's  college  at  Cambridge, 
he  is  quite  sure  it  is  doing  the  teachers  great  good,  whatever 
it  does  to  the  learners.  He  does  not  see  what  is  to  come  of  the 
middle-class  examinations  ;  they  are  not  a  step  to  anything  by 
the  direct  method,  and  one  man  who  got  a  high  certificate 
was  quite  astonished  at  having  some  trusty  situation  offered 
him,  never  dreaming  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  this. 
"  But  won't  some  further  career  be  opened  for  these  meritori- 


346 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


ous  people?"  "I  don't  find  people  in  general  very  good 
judges  of  their  own  merits."  "Well,  then,  won't  the  look- 
ers-on open  some  way  for  them?"  "I  don't  see  much 
good  come  of  spectators.  Why,  already  there  are  so  many 
half-starved  curates;  what  are  you  to  do?  F.  D.  Maurice 
comes  down  sometimes,  and  there  is  a  great  sensation  ;  or  Mr. 
Ruskin,  who  astonished  them  all  highly  the  other  day,  only 
he  flew  rather  over  the  people's  heads."  Papa  got  from  him 
a  formal  contradiction  of  the  choice  story  about  Chinese 
music,  which  was  a  pity ;  but  he  says  he  never  wrote  on  the 
subject,  only  on  Greek  music.  He  told  of  a  talk  he  had  had 
with  Martin  among  his  pictures,  which  he  assured  him  were 
the  result  of  the  most  studied  calculation  in  perspective ;  he 
had  been  puzzled  how  to  give  size  enough  to  an  angel's  hand, 
and  at  last  hit  on  the  expedient  of  throwing  a  fold  of  his 
garment  behind  the  sun. 

September  24. — The  little  "  Fox"  has  gained  her  quest  and 
brought  distinct  tidings  of  Franklin's  death  in  1847  5  the 
vessel  crushing  in  the  ice  in  1848;  multitudes  of  relics  found 
in  various  cairns,  which  were  their  posts  of  observation  around 
that  dreary  coast ;  Bibles  with  marked  passages  and  notes, 
clothes,  instruments,  all  sorts  of  things  of  most  touching 
interest,  so  preserved  by  the  climate  ;  many  skeletons  they 
found,  and  some  they  could  identify  by  things  they  had  about 
them.  It  is  a  comfort  to  believe  that  they  were  not  starved, 
as  thirty  or  forty  pounds  of  chocolate  was  found  with  them, 
and  Sir  John  Franklin  may  have  died  a  quite  natural  death  a 
year  before  the  catastrophe. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Penjerrick,  November  25. — Thanks,  Eccellentissima,  for 
thy  last  letter,  written  under  evident  difficulties.  What  with 
the  sons  of  Jeremiah  and  the  land  of  Nod,  it  was  a  hard  lot 
to  have  to  concoct  a  letter  ;  it  was  well  to  put  all  the  spice 
into  it  that  lay  convenient,  and  to  treat  me  to  a  discharge  of 
fire-arms.  By  all  means,  my  dear,  get  the  new  percussion 
fittings,  and  kill  as  many  Frenchmen  and  others  as  thy  con- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  347 

viction  of  duty  may  require.  I  have  a  great  reverence  for 
Loyola  and  Xavier,  though  I  don't  agree  with  them  about  the 
Inquisition ;  for  Las  Casas,  though  he  introduced  American 
slavery ;  and  for  John  Newton,  though  an  eager  slave-trader, 
which  he  never  seems  to  have  the  least  regretted.  '  Let  every 
one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind;'  but  then  let  them 
first  have  gone  honestly  through  the  whole  process  of  suasion, 
or  their  results  may  have  to  be  reconsiderd  at  any  time,  how- 
ever inconvenient.  I  am  reading  that  terrible  book  of  John 
Mill's  on  Liberty,  so  clear,  and  calm,  and  cold  :  he  lays  it 
on  one  as  a  tremendous  duty  to  get  one's  self  well  contra- 
dicted, and  admit  always  a  devil's  advocate  into  the  presence 
of  your  dearest,  most  sacred  truths,  as  they  are  apt  to  grow 
windy  and  worthless  without  such  tests,  if  indeed  they  can 
stand  the  shock  of  argument  at  all.  He  looks  you  through 
like  a  basilisk,  relentless  as  Fate.  We  knew  him  well  at  one 
time,  and  owe  him  very  much :  I  fear  his  remorseless  logic 
has  led  him  far  since  then.  This  book  is  dedicated  to  his 
wife's  memory  in  a  few  most  touching  words.  He  is  in  many 
senses  isolated,  and  must  sometimes  shiver  with  the  cold." 

Caroline  Pox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  FaZmotfth,  December  23. — No,  my  dear,  I  don't  agree 
with  Mill,  though  I  too  should  be  very  glad  to  have  some  of 
my  '  ugly  opinions'  corrected,  however  painful  the  process; 
but  Mill  makes  me  shiver,  his  blade  is  so  keen  and  so  unhesi- 
tating. I  think  there  is  much  force  in  his  criticism  on  the 
mental  training  provided  for  the  community  ;  the  battles  are 
fought^?/-  us,  the  objections  to  received  views  and  the  refu- 
tations of  the  same  all  provided  for  us,  instead  of  ourselves 
being  strengthened  and  armed  for  the  combat.  Then  he 
greatly  complains  of  our  all  growing  so  much  alike  that  indi- 
viduality is  dying. out  of  the  land;  we  are  more  afraid  of 
singularity  than  of  falsehood  or  compromise,  and  this  he 
thinks  a  very  dark  symptom  of  a  nation's  decay.  France,  he 
says,  is  further  gone  than  we  are  in  this  path." 


348  MEMORIES   OF   OLD  FRIENDS. 

December  y. — The  old  year  is  fled,  never  to  come  back 
again  through  all  eternity.  All  its  opportunities  for  love  and 
service  gone,  past  recall.  What  a  terrible  thought !  like  that 
which  must  have  flashed  upon  the  disciples  in  their  old  age, 
when  they  remembered  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the 
gentle  rebuke,  "Could  not  ye  watch  with  me  one  hour?" 
and  then  afterwards,  when  all  watching  was  too  late,  all 
utterly  vain,  either  for  sympathy  or  for  resolve,  with  what  a 
tolling  sound  would  those  other  words  fall  on  their  hearts, 
"  Sleep  on  now  and  take  your  rest ;  behold,  he  who  betrayeth 
me  is  at  hand."  How  can  I  look  back  on  these  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness  without  falling  into  such  musings  as  these? 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 
1860. 

"  The  grand  Napoleon  of  the  realms  of  rhyme." — BYRON. 

Paris,  May  25. — Madame  Sails  Schwabe  took  us  to  Ary 
Scheffer's  studio,  and  introduced  us  to  his  daughter  and  to 
Dr.  Antonio  Ruffini.  What  deep  and  beautiful  and  helpful 
things  we  saw  there  !  The  Marys  ;  the  Angel  announcing  the 
Resurrection  to  the  Woman,  which  was  even  wet  when  he 
died.  Earthly  sorrow  rising  into  celestial  joy, — a  wonderful 
picture  of  his  dying  mother  blessing  her  two  grandchildren, 
and  his  own  keen-eyed  portrait.  His  daughter  had  gathered 
around  her  an  infinity  of  personal  recollections,  and  it  felt 
very  sacred  ground. 

Falmouth,  September  22. — Alfred  Tennyson  and  his  friend 
Francis  Palgrave  at  Falmouth,  and  made  inquiries  about  the 
Grove  Hill  Leonardo,*  so  of  course  we  asked  them  to  come 
and  see  it ;  and  thus  we  had  a  visit  of  two  glorious  hours  both 
here  and  in  the  other  garden.  As  Tennyson  has  a  perfect 
horror  of  being  lionized,  we  left  him  very  much  to  himself 
fora  while,  till  he  took  the  initiative  and  came  forth.  Apropos 
of  the  Leonardo,  he  said  that  the  head  of  Christ  in  the  Rais- 
ing of  Lazarus  was  to  his  mind  the  worthiest  representation 
of  the  subject  which  he  had  ever  seen.  His  bright,  thought- 
ful friend,  Francis  Palgrave,  was  the  more  fond  of  pictures  of 
the  two:  they  both  delighted  in  the  little  Cuyp  and  the  great 
Correggio;  thought  the  Guido  a  pleasant  thing  to  have, 
though  feeble  enough  ;  believed  in  the  Leonardo,  and  Pal- 


*  Supposed  to  be  an  original  sketch  for  the  picture  of  the  Last  Supper,  by 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  Robert  Fox  at  Falmouth. 

3°  349 


35° 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


grave  gloated  over  the  big  vase.  On  the  leads  we  were  all  very 
happy  and  talked  apace.  "The  great  T."  groaned  a  little 
over  the  lionizing  to  which  he  is  subject,  and  wondered  how 
it  came  out  at  Falmouth  that  he  was  here :  this  was  apropos 
of  my  speaking  of  Henry  Hallam's  story  of  a  miner  hiding 
behind  a  wall  to  look  at  him,  which  he  did  not  remember ; 
but  when  he  heard  the  name  of  Hallam,  how  his  great  gray 
eyes  opened,  and  gave  one  a  moment's  glimpse  into  the 
depths  in  which  "In  Memoriam"  learned  its  infinite  wail. 
He  talked  a  good  deal  of  his  former  visit  to  Cornwall,  and 
his  accident  at  Bude,  all  owing  to  a  stupid  servant-maid.  In 
the  garden  he  was  greatly  interested,  for  he  too  is  trying  to 
acclimatize  plants,  but  finds  us  far  ahead,  because  he  is  at  the 
western  extremity  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  the  keen  winds 
cut  up  their  trees  and  scare  away  the  nightingales  in  conse- 
quence. But  he  is  proud  and  happy  in  a  great  magnolia  in 
his  garden.  He  talked  of  the  Cornish,  and  rather  liked  the 
conceit  of  their  countryism ;  was  amused  to  hear  of  the  re- 
fractory Truro  clergyman  being  buried  by  the  Cornish  miners, 
whom  he  forbade  to  sing  at  their  own  funeral ;  but  he  thought 
it  rather  an  unfortunate  instance  of  the  civilizing  power  of 
Wesley.  By  degrees  we  got  to  Guinevere,  and  he  spoke 
kindly  of  S.  Hodges's  picture  of  her  at  the  Polytechnic, 
though  he  doubted  if  it  told  the  story  very  distinctly.  This 
led  to  real  talk  of  Arthur  and  the  "  Idylls,"  and  his  firm  be- 
lief in  him  as  an  historical  personage,  though  old  Speed's 
narrative  has  much  that  can  be  only  traditional.  He  found 
great  difficulty  in  reconstructing  the  character,  in  connecting 
modern  with  ancient  feeling  in  representing  the  ideal  king. 
I  asked  whether  Vivien  might  not  be  the  old  Brittany  fairy 
who  wiled  Merlin  into  her  net,  and  not  an  actual  woman. 
"  But  no,"  he  said  ;  "  it  is  full  of  distinct  personality,  though 
I  never  expect  women  to  like  it."  The  river  Camel  he 
well  believes  in,  particularly  as  he  slipped  his  foot  and  fell  in 
the  other  day,  but  found  no  Excalibur.  Camel  means  simply 
winding,  crooked,  like  the  Cam  at  Cambridge.  The  Welsh 
claim  Arthur  as  their  own,  but  Tennyson  gives  all  his  votes 


yOUA'NALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  351 

to  us.  Some  have  urged  him  to  continue  the  "  Idylls,"  but 
he  does  not  feel  it  expedient  to  take  people's  advice  as  an  ab- 
solute law,  but  to  wait  for  the  vision.  He  reads  the  reviews 
of  his  poems,  and  is  amused  to  find  how  often  he  is  misunder- 
stood. Poets  often  misinterpret  poets,  and  he  has  never  seen 
an  artist  truly  illustrate  a  poet.  Talked  of  Garibaldi,  whose 
life  was  like  one  out  of  Plutarch,  he  said,  so  grand  and  sim- 
ple ;  and  of  Ruskin,  as  one  who  has  said  many  foolish  things  ; 
and  of  John  Sterling,  whom  he  met  twice,  and  whose  conver- 
sational powers  he  well  remembers. 

Tennyson  is  a  grand  specimen  of  a  man,  with  a  magnificent 
head  set  on  his  shoulders  like  the  capital  of  a  mighty  pillar. 
His  hair  is  long  and  wavy  and  covers  a  massive  head.  He 
wears  a  beard  and  moustache,  which  one  begrudges  as  hiding 
so  much  of  that  firm,  powerful,  but  finely-chiselled  mouth. 
His  eyes  are  large  and  gray,  and  open  wide  when  a  subject 
interests  him ;  they  are  well  shaded  by  the  noble  brow,  with 
its  strong  lines  of  thought  and  suffering.  I  can  quite  under- 
stand Samuel  Laurence  calling  it  the  best  balance  of  head  he 
had  ever  seen.  He  is  very  brown  after  all  the  pedestrianizing 
along  our  south  coast. 

Mr.  Palgrave  is  charmingly  enthusiastic  about  his  friend ; 
if  he  had  never  written  a  line  of  poetry,  he  should  have  felt 
him  none  the  less  a  poet ;  he  had  an  ambition  to  make  him 
and  Anna  Gurney  known  to  each  other  as  kindred  spirits  and 
of  similar  calibre.  We  grieved  not  to  take  them  to  Penjer- 
rick,  but  they  were  engaged  to  the  Truro  River;  so,  with  a 
farewell  grasp  of  the  great  brown  hand,  they  left  us. 

September  28. — Holman  Hunt  and  his  big  artist  friend,  Val 
Prinsep,  arrived,  and  we  were  presently  on  the  most  friendly 
footing.  The  former  is  a  very  genial,  young-looking  crea- 
ture, with  a  large,  square,  yellow  beard,  clear  blue  laughing 
eyes,  a  nose  with  a  merry  little  upward  turn  in  it,  dimples  in 
the  cheek,  and  the  whole  expression  sunny  and  full  of  simple 
boyish  happiness.  His  voice  is  most  musical,  and  there  is 
nothing  in  his  look  or  bearing,  spite  of  the  strongly-marked 
forehead,  to  suggest  the  high-priest  of  pre-Raphaelitism,  the 


352  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

ponderer  over  such  themes  as  the  Scape-goat,  the  Light  of  the 
World,  or  Christ  among  the  Doctors,  which  is  his  last  six 
years'  work.  We  went  to  Grove  Hill,  and  he  entirely  be- 
lieves in  the  Leonardo  being  an  original  sketch,  especially  as 
the  head  of  our  Lord  is  something  like  that  of  one  of  Leo- 
nardo's extant  studies :  he  is  known  to  have  tried  many,  and 
worked  up  one  strongly  Jewish  one,  but  not  of  a  high  type, 
which  at  last  he  rejected.  Holman  Hunt  entirely  agrees  with 
F.  D.  Maurice  about  the  usual  mistaken  treatment  of  St. 
John's  face,  which  was  probably  more  scarred  with  thought 
and  inward  conflict  than  any  of  the  other  apostles',  and  why 
he  should  have  ever  been  represented  with  a  womanish  ex- 
pression is  a  puzzle  to  him.  At  the  early  period  of  art  they 
dared  not  step  beyond  conventional  treatment.  He  spoke 
of  Tennyson  and  his  surprise  at  the  spirited,  suggestive  little 
paintings  of  strange  beasts  which  he  had  painted  on  the  win- 
dows of  his  summer-house  to  shut  out  an  ugly  view.  Holman 
Hunt  is  so  frank  and  open,  and  so  unspoiled  by  the  admira- 
tion he  has  excited  ;  he  does  not  talk  "  shop,"  but  is  perfectly 
willing  to  tell  you  anything  you  really  wish  to  know  of  his 
painting,  etc.  He  laughed  over  the  wicked  libel  that  he  had 
starved  a  goat  for  his  picture,  though  certainly  four  died  in 
his  service,  probably  feeling  dull  when  separated  from  the 
flock.  The  one  which  was  with  them  by  the  Dead  Sea  was 
better  off  for  food  than  they  were,  as  it  could  get  at  the  little 
patches  of  grass  in  the  clefts;  still  it  became  ill,  and  they  car- 
ried it  so  carefully  on  the  picture-case  !  but  it  died,  and  he 
was  in  despair  about  getting  another  white  one.  He  aimed 
at  giving  it  nothing  beyond  a  goat's  expression  of  counte- 
nance, but  one  in  such  utter  desolation  and  solitude  could 
not  but  be  tragic.  Speaking  of  lionizing,  he  considers  it  a 
special  sin  of  the  age,  and  specially  a  sin  because  people  seem 
to  care  so  much  more  for  the  persoa  doing  than  for  the  thing 
done. 

October  5. — We  have  had  Miss  Macaulay  here,  Lord  Macau- 
lay's  sister, — a  capital  clear-headed  woman,  with  large  liberal 
thoughts  and  great  ease  in  expounding  them.  We  had  so 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  35 3 

many  people  as  well  as  subjects  in  common  that  we  greatly 
enjoyed  her  visit.  Robertson  of  Brighton  was  her  pastor, 
and  of  him  she  talked  with  intelligent  enthusiasm,  sadly  con- 
firming the  fact  of  his  isolation  in  the  great  social  system. 
She  talked  a  little  of  her  brother ;  his  earliest  printed  poem 
was  on  the  death  of  Henry  Martyn,  written  when  he  was 
eleven,  but  he  had  before  that  composed  an  epic  in  honor  of 
the  reputed  head  of  their  house.  All  his  MS.  used  to  pass 
through  her  hands.  She  has  a  strong,  thoughtful  face,  with  a 
good  deal  of  humor  in  it  and  much  tenderness. 

Penjerrick,  December  15. — Baron  Bunsen  is  gone;  illness 
had  brought  him  so  low  that  his  friends  could  only  long  that 
he  might  be  delivered  from  his  weary  pain  ;  but  how  much 
has  gone  with  him  !  The  funeral  was  a  very  touching  and 
striking  one  \  first  his  sons  carried  the  coffin,  and  then  the 
Bonn  students,  who  craved  the  privilege,  fallowed.  Wreaths 
royal  and  friendly  were  laid  on  the  bier,  and  he  was  placed 
just  opposite  Niebuhr's  grave. 


30* 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 
1861-71. 

"  L,cave  this  keen  encounter  of  our  wits." — SHAKESPEARE. 

• 

Caroline  Fox  to  Lucy  Hodgkin. 

"  Ley  ton,  May,  1861. — The  Brights  are  staying  here,  so  we 
consider  ourselves  a  very  pleasant  party.  John  Bright  is 
great  fun,  always  ready  for  a  chat  and  a  fulmination,  and  fill- 
ing up  the  intervals  of  business  with  'Paradise  Regained.' 

"...  One  likes  to  have  his  opinion  on  men  and  things, 
as  it  is  strong,  clear,  and  honest,  however  one-sided.  But  he 
flies  off  provokingly  into  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  when 
one  wants  him  to  abide  for  a  little  among  deeper  and  less 
tangible  motives,  powers  and  arguments." 

Caroline  Fox  to  M.  E.  Tregelles. 

"  Grove  Hill,  December  23. — After  parting  with  thee  the 
other  evening,  I  found  myself  continually  cooing  over  those 
comfortable  words, — 

1  Yet  why  be  sad  ?  for  Thou  wilt  keep 

Watch  o'er  them  day  by  day  : 
Since  Thou  wilt  soothe  them  when  they  weep, 
And  hear  us  when  we  pray.' 

And  this  is  just  the  prose  fact  of  the  case,  full  of  real,  sub- 
stantial comfort,  in  all  the  chances  and  changes  of  this  mortal 
life.  And  another  prose  fact  which  is  often  voted  poetical 
seems  to  me  that  we  are  really  nearer  together  in  spirit  when 
separated  in  body,  as  the  thoughts  and  sympathies  are  perfectly 
independent  of  geography,  and  they  naturally  fly  off  on  their 
own  errands  when  a  little  anxiety  is  added  to  our  love. 
354 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  3-5 

"  This  has  been  a  sad  day,*  with  its  tolling  bells,  its  minute- 
guns,  the  band  parading  the  streets  playing  the  '  Dead  March 
in  Saul,'  but  also  a  day  on  which  many  and  fervent  prayers 
have  arisen  from  loving  hearts,  which  we  will  hope  have  been 
felt  as  a  sort  of  warm  atmosphere  round  the  poor  stricken 
heart,  which  we  hear  is  firmly  resolved  not  to  forget  its  high 
duties  in  the  midst  of  its  great  desolation.  The  Union  prayer- 
meeting  was  held  to-day  that  there  might  be  a  concentration 
of  spiritual  force  in  this  direction,  and  very  true  I  thought 
the  prayers  were  for  the  queen,  and  for  her  son,  and  for  all 
the  mourners.  It  made  one  almost  feel  as  if  fresh  blessings 
would  be  granted  her,  deeper  perhaps  than  she  has  ever  yet 
known.  Is  not  this  the  experience  of  many  a  bereaved  heart  ? 

"  This  wretched  American  business  !  To-day  it  seems  all 
terribly  real  to  us,  as  a  large  Confederate  merchantman  has 
broken  the  blockade,  and  has  come  into  our  harbor  with  a 
cargo  for  England — no,  there  is  only  rumor  of  its  approach. 
The  Northern  States  privateer  is  reported  in  the  offing,  on  the 
watch  for  her,  and  a  British  ship  of  war  and  certain  gun-boats 
are  come  to  keep  the  peace  in  our  seas." 

December  31. — The  full  year  is  coming  to  an  end.  How 
much  of  anxiety  and  pain  and  grief  it  has  contained,  but  how 
much  too  of  support  and  strength  and  comfort  granted  through 
all,  difficulties  conquered,  paths  made  clear,  duties  made 
pleasant,  very  much  to  strengthen  our  faith  and  to  animate 
our  love  !  Our  home-life  now  looks  clear  and  bright,  and 
we  all  go  on  cheerily  together ;  the  sense  of  change  is  every- 
where, but  the  presence  of  the  Changeless  One  is  nearer  still. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came. 

"  Penjerrick,  July  15,  1862. — I  rise  from  the  reading  of 
thy  paper  on  Buckle  to  thank  thee  warmly.  Having  now 
read  the  book  it  dealt  with,  all  bonds  were  broken,  and  I  have 
eagerly  devoured  it  at  a  sitting,  and  again  and  again  cried 

*The  funeral  of  H.R.H.  the  Prince  Consort. 


356  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

'  Bravo  !'  in  my  heart.  My  dear,  it  is  in  such  a  fine  gentle- 
manly tone,  no  theological  or  other  contempt,  but  full  of 
Christian  boldness  and  Christian  love  ;  a  sort  of  utterance 
one  need  not  be  ashamed  of  at  the  day  of  judgment, — a  use 
of  the  light  which  has  been  accumulating  for  some  six  thou- 
sand years  (or  more?),  which  He  who  gives  it  will  deign  to 
bless.  Oh,  if  our  controversies  for  at  least  eighteen  hundred 
years  had  been  conducted  in  this  same  spirit,  instead  of  the 
rancor  and  arrogance,  unfairness  and  self-conceit,  which  have 
unhappily  characterized  all  parties,  surely  we  should  be  in 
different  regions  now,  and  jesting  Pilate  would  have  no  ex- 
cuse for  asking,  '  What  is  Truth  ?' 

"Thou  hast  convicted  Buckle  of  glaring  inconsistencies  to 
his  own  theory,  such  as  appeared  even  very  early  in  his  first 
volume,  and  which  I  think  he  must  have  often  smiled  to 
recognize  as  he  went  on  with  his  mountain  of  facts  ;  but  there 
is  such  courteous  and  glad  acknowledgment  of  what  he  has 
done  for  us,  as  is  more  delightful  than  characteristic  of  a 
clever  critic.  I  yearn  that  he  should  have  seen  the  paper — 
which  I  fear  is  more  possible  than  probable — in  Egypt.  He 
was  one  greatly  loved  by  those  who  knew  him,  and  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  be  wounded  and  driven  farther  off,  rather  than 
in  any  way  helped,  by  the  ordinary  groans  and  screams  of 
outraged  theologians  and  pious  Christians, — which  latter  had 
far  better  pray  in  silence  than  enter  such  lists  unbidden.  I 
am  not  sure  that  I  shall  not  go  further  than  thou  dost  as  to 
the  law  of  cause  and  effect  in  human  affairs ;  one  is  so  often 
struck  with  the  awfully  definite  character  of  cause  and  con- 
sequences :  transgress  any  branch  of  the  moral  law,  and  the 
fitting  punishment  is  so  certain ;  sow  the  seed,  and  as  a 
necessary  consequence  you  reap  the  fruit.  God  has  in  various 
ages  told. us  that  so  it  must  be,  and  His  Spirit  has  confirmed 
the  warning  to  every  listening  heart ;  therefore  I  regard  His 
government  as  rather  regular  than  exceptional ;  but  of  course 
we  really  agree  here  also,  and  think  that  Lord  Palmerston  did 
well  when  he  preached  sanitary  law  to  the  Scotch.  There  is 
something  very  touching  and  also  very  instructive  in  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  35  7 

thought  of  a  man  being  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  such  a  work, — 
especially  as  thou  says  that  he  was  evidently  swallowing  some 
of  his  theories  in  the  second  volume  :  it  shows  the  awfulness 
of  giving  your  immature  thoughts  to  the  world,  and  perhaps 
deeply  influencing  others,  thinking  that  you  may  carry  on  the 
struggle  towards  light  indefinitely  with  them  and  for  them, — 
and,  lo  !  the  hour  strikes,  you  leave  them  gazing  through 
cloudy  glasses  at  the  spots  on  the  sun,  but  little  able  to  dis- 
cern the  central  star  of  the  universe,  round  which  you  tell 
them  that  we  are  all  moving.  Oh,  it  is  an  awful  thing  to  be 
a  thinker  and  writer  !  Woe  must  betide  those  who  do  not 
seek  a  better  light  than  their  own." 

October  4. — The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Montpensier  have 
been  staying  at  Falmouth  for  some  days.  Howard  Fox  saw 
much  of  and  liked  them.  He  brought  the  duke  and  his 
daughter  here,  but  we  were  unfortunately  out.  He  said  how 
much  the  Infanta  desired  to  see  the  place  :  so  we  went  in  and 
invited  her,  an  easy,  gracious,  royal  lady,  with  a  sensible, 
pleasant,  not  quite  handsome  face :  they  would  have  come, 
but  embarked  instead. 

Caroline  Fox  to  J,  M.  Sterling. 

" 'November  28. — Thou  shalt  rejoice  with  me  over  my  pooi 
Scotchman  at  the  Sailors'  Home.  (My  romances  are  so  apt 
to  centre  there  !)  Well,  he  was  brought  in  several  weeks  ago, 
frightfully  ill  and  suffering;  a  very  perilous  operation  might 
possibly  have  relieved  him,  but  they  dared  not  attempt  it 
here,  and  wanted  to  send  him  to  a  London  hospital.  He 
earnestly  desired  to  be  left  here  to  die  quietly,  and  I  own  I 
was  very  glad  when  at  last  they  let  him  have  his  way,  as  it 
seemed  very  probable  that  the  operation  would  be  fatal. 
Well,  somehow,  we  formed  a  very  close  friendship.  He  had 
frightened  away  the  good  people  (the  clergyman,  etc.)  by 
his  stormy  language,  when  really  he  was  half  delirious  from 
agony;  but  we  were  nearer  the  same  level,  and  so,  as  I  said, 
we  formed  a  romantic  friendship.  He  poured  out  the  story 


358  MEMORIES   OF  OLD    FRIENDS. 

of  his  life,  which  had  separated  him  from  all  his  friends  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  '  Oh  !  I  was  a  bad,  bad,  bad  boy  ! 
My  life  has  been  one  course  of  sin  !'  and  he  was  utterly  hope- 
less of  forgiveness.  Oh,  the  fixed  despair  of  those  poor  eyes  ! 
I  urged  him  to  allow  me  to  write  to  his  family  to  tell  of  his 
contrition  and  ask  forgiveness;  but  he  said  it  was  impossible 
that  they  could  forgive  him ;  the  prodigal  had  wasted  his  own 
share  of  his  father's  heritage,  but  he  had  wasted  theirs,  and 
then  ran  away  from  them  to  America,  and  broke  their  hearts. 
What  he  would  give  to  fall  down  before  his  father  and  be- 
seech his  forgiveness !  but  it  was  all  too  late.  He  cried  bit- 
terly, but  for  a  week  or  two  he  would  not  let  me  make  the 
attempt,  which  he  was  certain  was  utterly  useless.  He  was 
evidently  sinking,  and  I  felt  so  strongly  that  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  win  the  forgiveness  of  his  family  he  would  then  be 
able  to  believe  in  a  higher  forgiveness :  so  last  Sunday  I 
wheedled  his  father's  address  out  of  him,  and  got  his  tacit 
consent  to  my  letter  going,  though  he  was  certain  there  would 
be  no  one  there  to  receive  it.  The  thought  of  my  Scotchman 
haunted  me  to-day,  so  in  I  went,  and  found  a  most  loving 
letter  from  his  brother,  hailing  him  as  alive  from  the  dead ; 
I  ran  down  to  the  Sailors'  Home  and  found  another  from  his 
sister  in  ecstasy  of  joy,  and  telling  of  his  father's  complete 
forgiveness  and  tender  love.  '  He  would  have  spent  his 
last  shilling  to  come  to  you,  but  he  is  gone  !'  Oh,  I  have 
never  seen  anything  more  exquisitely  touching  than  the 
floods  of  wonder  and  ecstasy  when  I  took  in  my  treasures. 
It  was  still  an  almost  incredible  joy ;  he  poured  forth  his 
thankfulness  and  his  tears  before  God,  to  think  that  he  had 
still  brothers  and  sisters  who  forgave  him,  and  loved  him, 
and  received  him  as  alive  from  the  dead.  His  father  he  had 
felt  certain  was  dead,  so  that  was  no  shock ;  but  to  think  how 
his  love  had  clung  to  him  to  the  last !  Now  I  believe  he  will 
find  no  difficulty  in  believing  in  that  Higher  Love  which  has 
already  done  such  great  things  for  him  !  He  covered  his 
sister's  letter  with  kisses,  saying,  '  It's  my  sister's  heart,  her 
heart.'  She  had  telegraphed  to  a  soldier  brother  near  Chat- 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  359 

ham  to  come  to  him  at  once,  so  two  or  three  may  possibly  be 
with  him  in  a  few  days  !  I  hope  that  all  this  joy  will  not 
have  killed  him  before  they  come,  'but  I  should  think  it  must 
hasten  the  end.  I  did  not  leave  him  till  he  was  quieter,  and 
I  have  since  been  writing  most  happy  letters  to  them  both. 
There,  my  dear,  is  a  long  story  for  thee,  but  I  could  not  help 
telling  thee  what  has  made  me  quite  tipsy.  Excuse  my  happi- 
ness, and  believe  me  thy  C.  F. " 

Falmouth,  January  20,  1863. — We  had  a  great  treat  in 
hearing  Charles  Kean  read  Richard  III.,  Alexander's  Feast, 
the  Prisoner  of  Chillon,  etc.,  very  fine  and  very  dramatic; 
we  saw  something  of  him  and  his  wife  afterwards,  and  liked 
our  theatrical  friends  greatly. 

Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Carne. 

"  Blois,  June  6. — This  Spanish  frisk*  has  been  most  mem- 
orable ;  the  great  object  of  the  journey  accomplished  far  be- 
yond their  hopes,  though  in  a  way  to  save  the  queen's  pride 
and  their  vanity.  Many  think  that  it  is  a  first  and  very  im- 
portant step  in  the  direction  of  religious  liberty,  from  which 
they  will  not  dare  to  recede  with  all  Europe  looking  on  and 
speaking  its  mind  very  distinctly. 

"  We  saw  a  good  deal  of  some  very  thoughtful  and  liberal- 
minded  Spaniards,  but  it  is  sad  to  see  in  what  a  state  of 
timidity  and  unmanliness  some  of  the  really  superior  ones 
are  kept  by  the  narrow  laws  of  their  country.  I  wonder  what 
has  become  of  all  the  ci-devant  prisoners?  Have  you  got 
them  in  England  ?  I  hope  not.  They  would  be  in  worse 
peril  there  than  in  the  prisons  of  Granada.  Anna  Maria  and 
I  contrived  to  get  a  great  deal  of  commonplace  enjoyment 
out  of  the  excursion,  whilst  our  betters  were  engaged  in  con- 
ference with  their  brother  deputies.  They  were  a  gallant  set 
of  men,  representing  ten  different  nations,  and  we  felt  very 
proud  of  them." 

*In  allusion  to  the  deputation  to  the  Queen  of  Spain  asking  for  the  libera- 
tion of  Matamoros. 


360  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Penjerrick,  March  9,  1864. — Mrs.  Welsh  has  settled  among 
us  very  cordially.  Her  accounts  of  Mrs.  Carlyle  are  piteous  : 
it  is  such  a  weary,  suffering  sick-room,  the  nerves  all  on  edge, 
so  that  she  can  see  scarcely  any  one  ;  poor  Carlyle  is  miser- 
able. 

April  17. — Garibaldi  came  to  Par  to  see  his  Englishman, 
and  we,  armed  with  a  friendly  introduction  and  a  kind  invi- 
tation from  the  colonel  and  Mrs.  Peard,  went  to  "meet  him. 
Among  the  flags  erecting  to  welcome  him  was  a  grim  Austrian 
banner,  which  was  soon  lugged  down.  It  was  moonlight 
before  he  arrived ;  there  was  a  pause  as  the  train  drew  up  at 
the  platform,  and  then  the  general  was  almost  lifted  out  of  the 
carriage,  and  stood  with  the  lamps  lighting  up  his  face.  It 
was  full  of  deep  lines  of  pain  and  care  and  weariness,  but 
over  and  through  it  all  such  a  spiritual  beauty  and  moral  dig- 
nity. His  dress  was  picturesque  in  form  and  color, — the  red 
shirt,  the  gray  cloak  lined  with  red,  the  corner  flung  grace- 
fully over  one  shoulder.  Colonel  Peard  was  there,  his  duty 
being  to  protect  his  chief  from  the  enthusiasm  of  the  crowd. 
The  next  morning  he  gave  us  a  cordial  reception  ;  a  good 
night  had  done  wonders  for  him,  and  had  taken  off  twenty 
years  from  his  apparent  age.  We  talked  of  his  last  night's 
reception,  and  asked  if  he  had  ever  been  at  Falmouth,  as  was 
reported.  "  Never,"  he  said  ;  "  but  I  was  at  Portsmouth  in 
'55  :"  he  hopes  to  come  and  visit  us  some  day. 

July  2. — Have  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  Professor  Adams 
at  Cambridge.  He  is  so  delightful  in  the  intervals  of  busi- 
ness, enjoying  all  things,  large  or  small,  with  a  boyish  zest. 
He  showed  and  explained  the  calculating  machine  (French, 
not  Babbage),  which  saves  him  much  in  time  and  brain,  as  it 
can  multiply  or  divide  ten  figures  accurately.  We  came 
upon  an  admirable  portrait  of  him  at  St.  John's  College  before 
he  accepted  a  Pembroke  Fellowship  and  migrated  thither. 
Next  day  we  met  Professor  Sedgwick,  looking  so  aged  ;  and 
whilst  at  Trinity  we  had  a  pleasant  talk  with  Dean  Stanley 
and  Lady  Augusta. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  ,61 

Caroline  Fox  to  J.  M.  Sterling. 

"  Penjerrick,  November  25,  1865. — I  fear  I  shall  not  get  to 
the  Crag  to-day  to  report  on  the  casualties  of  the  last  few 
days,  as  it  is  still  blowing  great  guns  ;  and  it  is  piteous  to 
watch  the  great  trees  rocking  and  shuddering  under  the  weight 
of  the  gale,  the  tall  cypress  sometimes  bending  to  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees.  It  is  wonderful  that  more  mischief  is  not 
done  before  our  eyes.  At  Grove  Hill,  several  large  trees 
were  torn  up  by  their  roots,  and  did  as  much  mischief — like 
Samson,  in  dying — as  they  conveniently  could.  What  we  see 
makes  one  think  tragically  of  what  we  do  not  see.  Another 
vessel  is  ashore  in  our  harbor ;  twelve  or  fourteen  are  reported 
ashore  in  Plymouth  Harbor ;  but  what  of  those  of  whom  we 
hear  nothing,  and  perhaps  shall  never  hear  ?  Oh,  it  is  a 
doubtful  luxury  to  live  on  the  coast  and  watch  those  grand 
creatures  struggling  across  the  bay,  partly  dismasted, — almost 
beaten, — but  not  quite  !  God  help  them,  and  those  who  love 
them! 

"Thanks  for  thy  last,  with  its  slowly  progressive  news  of 
your  patient.  I  suppose  that  is  as  much  as  one  has  any 
right  to  hope  for.  And  thanks  for  the  glorious  echoes  of  that 
Lobgesang.  Thou  must  have  wanted  it  after  reading  Robert- 
son's life.  Poor,  dear,  dear  Robertson  !  Was  it  necessary 
to  tell  it  all  to  the  public?  I  often  ask  myself;  but  then  I 
have  not  finished  the  first  volume  yet.  I  had  almost  rather 
have  been  left  alone  with  his  sermons.  Dost  thou  really  not 
hope  to  feel  consciously  nearer  the  Father  of  all  by  and  by, 
than  in  this  present  cloudy  existence?  I  shouldn't  think  it 
worth  while  to  die  at  all  (!)  if  I  could  only  crave  in  dying 
that  I  might  not  be  taken  away  from  Him.  '  This  day  shall 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise,'  was  said  to  the  repentant  thief, 
and  I  should  fully  hope  to  creep  in,  however  far  behind  him. 
I  always  think  his  a  very  sublime  act  of  faith  recognizing  his 
King  in  that  dark  hour. 

"  A  great  anxiety  just  now  is  our  darling  Louisa  Reynolds. 
She  is,  you  know,  to  us  the  one  '  indispensable'  member  of 
Q  3i 


362  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

the  circle.  But  that  is  a  poor  reason  for  begrudging  her  an 
entrance  into  the  Celestial  City,  fit  ending  of  her  faithful, 
loving  pilgrimage.  But  she  would  be  very  willing  to  stay 
with  us  awhile,  so  long  as  her  Lord  has  any  work  for  her  to 
do.  It  is  peace  to  turn  to  her  from  Jamaica.  Where  art  thou 
in  that  strife?  Not  with  the  'Times,'  I  trust?  Of  course 
my  national  vanity  makes  me  shudder  much  more  under  the 
English  than  the  negro  savagery.  Hast  thou  seen  any  of  the 
documents  in  the  'Daily  News'  of  the  2oth  or  23d?  But  the 
governor's  despatch  is  enough  to  make  one  sick,  without  note 
or  comment. 

"A  third  tree  gone  down  before  our  eyes!  the  gale  is 
awful.  Oh,  I  trust  that  George  is  safe  at  Natal  shooting  rab- 
bits !  He  has  shot  five,  dear  fellow,  a  feat  performable  in 
England  !  The* father  was  coming  in  every  ten  minutes  with 
news  of  fresh  disasters,  so  I  could  stand  it  no  longer,  but 
went  forth  into  the  storm ;  it  was  grand  and  terrific,  and  the 
great  trees  were  cracking  around  us,  and  some  giants  prostrate 
having  crushed  many  darlings  in  their  fall.  Oh,  it  would 
have  gone  to  thy  heart  to  see  the  lovely  squashed  pines ;  but 
all  was  nothing  to  the  blessing  of  poor  John  not  having  been 
hurt,  who  was  actually  in  a  tree  cutting  down  its  branches 
when  it  fell.  About  twenty  trees  are  gone,  some  of  the  very 
largest,  and  what  may  have  been  going  on  again  at  Grove 
Hill  we  can  only  imagine. 

"  Having  got  out,  how  could  I  resist  the  temptation  of 
giving  my  betters  the  slip,  and  creeping  away  to  the  Crag  to 
see  what  might  be  left  of  it  ?  And  I  rejoice  to  say  that  it  has 
stood  all  gallantly  ;  a  few  old  trees  gone,  but  nothing  to  sig- 
nify. One  from  the  terrace  bank  fell,  and  another  near  it 
Hugh  wisely  cut  away  lest  it  should  fall  on  the  greenhouse. 
Only  two  panes  of  glass  gone,  and  neither  slates  nor  chimney- 
pots from  the  house.  The  sea  was  glorious,  and  the  pond 
extended  almost  as  far  as  Bolt's  house.  I  crept  round  the  hill 
and  up  the  zigzag  to  get  there ;  but  Hugh  thought  I  might 
get  across  the  hill-top  in  returning.  *  Indeed,  I  shall  have  to 
pass  it  myself  this  evening,1  and  I  think  he  wished  to  see  the 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  363 

experiment  tried.  I  did  it !  Only  taking  twice  to  Mother 
Earth.  Hast  thou  ever  seen  the  earth  breathing  and  throb- 
bing? It  looks  very  uncanny, — caused  by  the  heaving  of  the 
great  roots.  Four  wrecks  are  reported  between  here  and  the 
Lizard,  but  no  lives  lost  in  the  harbor  !  Yours,  C.  F. 

"  Is  this  the  last  rose  of  summer?     No,  there  is  yet  a  bud  ; 
but  is  it  not  gallant  of  it  to  be  doing  its  devoir  still?" 

Penjerrick,  March  18,  1866. — I  have  just  been  brought 
through  a  sharp  little  attack  of  bronchitis,  and  feel  bound  to 
record  my  sense  of  the  tender  mercy  that  has  encompassed 
me  night  and  day.  Though  it  may  have  been  in  part  my  own 
wilfulness  and  recklessness  that  brought  it  on,  that  and  all 
else  was  pardoned,  all  fear  of  suffering  or  death  was  swallowed 
up  in  the  child-like  joy  of  trust, — a  perfect  rest  in  the  limit- 
less love  and  wisdom  of  a  most  tender  Friend,  whose  will  was 
far  dearer  to  me  than  my  own.  That  blessed  presence  was' 
felt  just  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the  hour,  and  the  words 
breathed  into  my  spirit  were  just  the  most  helpful  ones  at  the 
time,  strengthening  and  soothing.  This  was  specially  felt  in 
the  long  still  nights,  when  sometimes  I  felt  very  ill ;  "  Never 
less  lonely  than  when  thus  alone, — alone  with  God."  Surely 
I  know  more  than  ever  of  the  reality  of  that  declaration, 
"This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  Thee,  the  only 
true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  Thou  hast  sent."  I  write 
all  this  now,  because  my  feelings  are  already  fading  into  com- 
monplace, and  I  would  fain  fix  some  little  scrap  of  my  expe- 
rience. I  had  before  been  craving  for  a  little  more  spiritual 
life  on  any  terms,  and  how  mercifully  this  has  been  granted  ! 
and  I  can  utterly  trust  that  in  any  extremity  that  may  be 
before  me  the  same  wonderful  mercy  will  encompass  me,  and 
of  mere  love  and  forgiving  compassion  carry  me  safely  into 
port.* 

*  With  the  exception  of  a  few  notes  of  her  life's  ordinary  doings,  this  is  the 
last  entry  in  the  whole  series  of  Caroline  Fox's  Journals. 


364  MEMORIES  OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

From  "Johnny"  the  Marmoset  to  M.  E.  Tregelles. 

11  Hotel  a"  Orient,  Ifyeres,  November  22,  1866. — My  dear 
and  noble  and  generous  cousin  ! — How  I  do  love  you  and  hug 
you  in  my  heart,  and  hope  that  you  are  lying  somewhere  as 
snugly  and  warmly  as  I  am.  Just  now,  indeed,  I  am  up  and 
sitting  on  the  balcony  outside  the  window  and  dressing  for 
the  day  (my  legs  and  tail  take  a  long  time  to  polish  up),  and 
I  let  Aunt  Caroline  do  the  writing  for  me,  as  her  affairs  can't 
be  so  important  as  mine.  She  has  my  carriage  (sac  de  voyage 
I  call  it  now)  strapped  round  her  waist  ready  for  me  when  I 
wish  to  go  and  look  at  the  Mediterranean  from  under  the 
palm-trees,  or  to  M.  Gorcin's  studio.  I  went  yesterday  to  a 
church  on  a  hill,  and  saw  such  a  number  of  people  there  and 
all  about  the  place,  because  it  was  the  great  anniversary ;  and 
moreover  the  town  of  Hyeres  presented  a  picture  of  the  Vir- 
gin that  day  as  a  thank-offering  for  having  been  spared  a  visi- 
tation of  cholera ;  and  such  a  number  of  candles  were  burning 
before  it  as  made  me  think  of  the  sunshine  of  my  own  Brazil ! 
Hundreds  of  funny  little  pictures-  were  hung  all  round  the 
church,  showing  people  in  all  sorts  of  dangers  ;  I  believe  my 
aunts  thought  it  was  very  nice  to  be  thankful  in  any  fashion, 
but  I  assure  you  the  pictures  were  hideously  painted.  Besides, 
there  was  always  the  Madonna  stuck  up  in  the  corner  of  them  ; 
and  as  I  always  go  to  meeting  now — even  on  fourth-day  even- 
ings— of  course  I  don't  like  that. 

"  I  have  made  such  a  number  of  friends  on  my  travels  :  the 
waiters  are  ready  to  worship  me  at  table  d'hdtes,  and  give 
a  plate  ' pour  le  Petif  (I  don't  know  whether  it  is  quite  re- 
spectful to  call  me  so,  but  they  mean  well,  I  believe) ;  and 
a  little  boy  here  rushes  down  whilst  I  am  at  breakfast  en 
famille  for  a  kiss ;  but  as  I  don't  always  like  such  interrup- 
tions, I  think  it  best  sometimes  to  make  a  little  round  mouth 
at  him. 

"  They  all  admire  my  sac  de  voyage  very  much,  and  well 
they  may!  I  am  glad  they  can't  get  into  it.  A  Russian 
princess  who  filled  a  great  hotel  with  her  glory,  after  petting 


JOURNALS    OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  365 

me  with  enthusiasm,  turned  to  my  aunt  and  said,  'You  are  a 
happy  woman  !'  to  which  I  winked  assent. 

"You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  this  climate  suits  my  health 
as  well  as  that  of  my  family.  I  like  to  sit  with  them  upon 
the  cistuses  and  myrtles  and  look  out  on  the  sea  from  under 
the  pines,  and  draw  a  little,  and  make  friends  with  the  people. 
I  had  a  great  deal  to  say  to  the  pilgrims  yesterday,  and  they 
were  delighted  with  my  little  books. — I  remain  thy  very 
loving  and  very  grateful  cousin, 

"J.  MARMOSET." 

Mentone,  March  5,  1867. — Called  by  appointment  on  Car- 
lyle  at  Lady  Ashburton's.  He  has  a  sort  of  pavilion  separate 
yet  attached  to  her  villa,  where  he  may  feel  independent. 
Found  him  alone  reading  Shakespeare,  in  a  long  dressing- 
gown,  a  drab  comforter  wrapped  round  and  round  his  neck, 
and  a  dark-blue  cap  on,  for  he  had  a  cold.  He  received  us 
very  kindly,  but  would  untwist  his  comforter,  and  take  off  his 
cap,  and  comb  his  shaggy  mane  in  honor  of  the  occasion. 
He  looks  thin,  and  aged,  and  sad  as  Jeremiah,  though  the 
red  is  still  bright  in  his  cheek  and  the  blue  in  his  eye,  which 
seems  to  be  set  more  deeply  than  ever ;  there  is  a  grim  ex- 
pression in  his  face,  which  looks  solemn  enough. 

First  he  launched  out,  I  think,  on  the  horrors  of  the  jour- 
ney:  "I  should  never  have  come  but  for  Tyndall,  who 
dragged  me  off  by  the  hair  of  my  head,  so  to  speak,  and 
flung  me  down  here,  and  then  went  his  way.  He  had  better 
have  left  me  alone  with  my  misery.*  Pleasures  of  travelling  ! 
In  that  accursed  train,  with  its  devilish  howls  and  yells  driv- 
ing one  distracted.!"  "  But  cannot  you  read  in  travelling?" 
"Read!  No;  it  is  enough  for  me  to  reflect  on  my  own 
misery  ;  they  ought  to  give  you  chloroform  as  you  are  a  living 
creature."  Then  of  the  state  of  England  and  the  Reform 


*  Mrs.  Carlyle  died  April,  1866.  "  With  some  of  the  highest  gifts  of  intellect 
and  the  charm  of  a  most  varied  knowledge  of  books  and  things,  there  was 
something  beyond,  beyond." — Forster's  "  Life  of  Dickens,"  vol.  iii.  p.  277. 

3'* 


366  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

Bill :  "  Oh  !  this  cry  for  Liberty  !  Liberty !  which  is  just 
liberty  to  do  the  devil's  work,  instead  of  binding  him  with 
ten  thousand  bands,  just  going  the  way  of  France  and  Amer- 
ica, and  those  sort  of  places  ;  why,  it  is  all  going  down-hill 
as  fast  as  it  can  go,  and  of  no  significance  to  me  :  I  have  done 
with  it.  I  can  take  no  interest  in  it  at  all,  nor  feel  any  sort  of 
hope  for  the  country.  It  is  not  the  liberty  to  keep  the  Ten 
Commandments  that  they  are  crying  out  for, — that  used  to 
be  enough  for  the  genuine  man, — but  liberty  to  carry  on  their 
own  prosperity,  as  they  call  it,  and  so  there  is  no  longer  any- 
thing genuine  to  be  found  ;  it  is  all  shoddy.  Go  into  any 
shop  you  will  and  ask  for  any  article,  and  ye'll  find  it  all 
one  enormous  lie.  The  country  is  going  to  perdition  at  a 
frightful  pace.  I  give:it  about  fifty  years  yet  to  accomplish  its 
fall." 

Spoke  of  Gladstone:  "Is  not  he  a  man  of  principle?" 
"  Oh,  Gladstone  !  I  did  hope  well  of  him  once,  and  so  did 
John  Sterling,  though  I  heard  he  was  a  Puseyite  and  so  forth : 
still  it  seemed  the  right  thing  for  a  State  to  feel  itself  bound 
to  God,  and  to  lean  on  Him,  and  so  I  hoped  something  might 
come  of  him ;  but  now  he  has  been  declaiming  that  England 
is  in  such  a  wonderfully  prosperous  state,  meaning  that  it  has 
plenty  of  money  in  its  breeches-pockets  and  plenty  of  beef 
in  its  great  ugly  belly.  But  that's  not  the  prosperity  we  want. 
And  so  I  say  to  him,  '  You  are  not  the  life-giver  to  England ; 
I  go  my  way,  you  go  yours,  good-morning'  (with  a  most  dra- 
matic and  final  bow).  Which  times  were  the  most  genuine 
in  England?  Cromwell's?  Henry  VIII. 's?  Why,  in  each 
time  it  seems  to  me  there  was  something  genuine,  some  en- 
deavor to  keep  God's  commandments.  Cromwell's  time  was 
only  a  revival  of  it.  But  now  things  have  been  going  down 
further  and  further  since  George  III." 

A  little  knock  at  the  door,  and  a  lady  in  black  appeared 
and  vanished,  which  was  a  signal  that  Lady  Ashburton  was 
going  presently,  but  he  said  she  wished  to  see  us  first,  as  she 
was  going  to  see  the  Bunsens  at  Florence.  He  liked  to  hear  of 
the  Sterlings,  and  of  our  being  all  near  together  in  Cornwall. 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE  FOX.  367 

"I  have  always,"  he  said,  "a  sort  of  pious  feeling  about 
Falmouth  and  about  you  all,  and  so  had  she  who  is  gone 
away  from  me,  for  all  your  kindness  to  John  Welsh  ;  you 
couldn't  do  a  greater  kindness  than  all  you  did  for  him  and 
his  mother.  He  was  a  true  genuine  man  ;  give  him  anything 
to  do,  and  you  may  be  sure  it  was  well  done,  whether  it  was 
to  be  seen  of  human  eye  or  no.  He  worked  hard,  for  the 
one  unquestionable  foremost  duty  he  felt  was  to  raise  his 
mother  out  of  her  troubles;  he  could -see  no  other  till  that 
was  done,  and  well  done,  and  he  did  it  and  died.  I  was 
once  in  Falmouth  harbor  for  two  hours  in  an  Irish  steamer, 
and  I  gave  my  card  to  a  respectable-looking,  seafaring  sort  of 
man,  who  promised  to  take  it  to  your  late  brother.  I  re- 
member taking  a  leaf  out  of  my  pocket-book  and  writing  on 
it  my  regrets  at  not  being  able  to  land."  He  spoke  of  the 
beauty  of  this  country,  and  specially  of  the  view  from  the 
bridge,  which  he  must  have  crossed  seventy  times,  and  the 
pleasure  of  the  warmth  and  sunshine  with  the  blue  sky  clear 
above  one,  rather  than  the  cold  and  wet  and  mud  of  London. 
Then  he  took  us  to  Lady  Ashburton,  whose  carriage  was  get- 
ting ready,  and  we  took  leave  of  him. 

Lady  Ashburton's  is  a  winning  and  powerful  face,  with 
much  intellectual  energy  and  womanly  sweetness.  She  en- 
couraged our  coming  again  to  see  Carlyle,  thinking  it  quite 
a  kindness  to  stir  him  up.  She  was  glad  he  had  spoken  of 
anything  with  pleasure,  "for,"  she  added,  "I'm  very  fond 
of  the  old  man,  and  I  did  what  I  thought  was  for  the  best, 
and  I  really  hope  he  is  the  better  for  it  in  spite  of  himself, 
though  sometimes  k  seems  as  if  it  was  altogether  a  failure." 
Lady  Ashburton  goes  to  Rome  and  will  return  here.  She 
leaves  "  her  one  treasure,"  an  only  little  girl,  and  Carlyle 
under  the  care  of  two  good,  kindly,  wise-hearted  ladies. 

Caroline  Fox  to  J.  M.  Sterling. 

"  Mentone,  March  17,  1867. — How  these  precious  memo- 
rials thicken  !  and  they  don't  lessen  in  value  as  time  rolls  on 
but  does  not  sweep  away  our  memories  of  the  past,  which 


368  MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 

often  seem  the  most  absolute  of  our  earthly  possessions.  It 
is  a  hard  task  to  be  patient  with  one's  own  dryness  and  weari- 
ness of  heart  and  lifelessness.  I  know  every  inch  of  that 
road  ;  but  spring  leaves,  and  even  flowers,  may  follow  that 
death-like  winter ;  and  that  strange  rest  which  feels  like 
torpor  of  the  spirit  is  also  wisely  appointed  when  the  heart 
has  been  overtasked. 

"Mr.  Carlyle  is  gone;  we  only  saw  him  once  more,  and 
then  I  thought  his  'good-by1  so  impressive  that  it  felt  like 
parting,  and  when  we  called  again  he  was  gone.  I  was  so 
interested  to  see  how  the  true  man  came  out  when  he  talked 
of  you  ;  he  had  been  grim  in  his  views  of  England  and  things 
in  general,  but  then  the  sympathy  and  tenderness  shone  out 
of  him,  and  he  dwelt  on  kindred  themes  in  his  own  noblest 
spirit.  I  am  very  glad  to  have  seen  him  again  after  an  in- 
terval of  many,  many  years,  though  it  makes  one  sad  to  think 
of  him,  his  look  and  most  of  his  talk  were  so  dreary. 

"  The  manifold  beauty  of  this  place  bewitches  us,  and  we 
are  able  to  take  long  excursions  on  donkeys  among  the  moun- 
tains and  quaintest  of  mountain-villages.  The  dear  father 
finds  immense  beds  of  fossils,  strangest  strata  and  bone-cav- 
erns, to  say  nothing  of  most  glorious  waves,  and  a  bellows 
which  snorts  forth  in  rush  of  waters,  like  a  vast  walrus,  through 
two  nostrils.  We  had  a  picnic  at  Roccabonna,  in  the  olive 
grove  behind  that  grotesque  place,  in  honor  of  a  nice  little 
Tuke's  birthday.  It  was  a  brilliant  scene,  with  all  the  bright 
children  flitting  about  in  the  sunshine." 

Caroline  Fox  to  Charlotte  O'  Brien. 

"  Penjerrick,  October  14,  1868. — We  have  just  had  the 
John  Brights  staying  with  us,  and  enjoyed  it  very  much  ;  his 
conversation  is  so  .varied,  he  is  so  simple  and  unreserved  in 
telling  one  all  manner  of  things  one  wishes  to  hear  about,  and 
then  there  is  such  downright  manliness  in  the  whole  nature 
of  the  man,  which  is  refreshing  in  this  rather  feeble  age. 
How  did  you  like  him  in  your  part  of  Ireland  ?  Here  he 
had  nothing  for  the  public,  though  they  wanted  to  present 


JOURNALS   OF  CAROLINE   FOX.  369 

an  address,  but  would  talk  and  read  poetry  until  ten  o'clock 
to  us. 

"  The  Polytechnic  took  place  the  week  before,  and  proved 
quite  a  pleasant  occasion.  We  had  various  scientific  people 
staying  with  us  : — the  Glaishers,  who  had  much  to  tell,  both 
about  balloons  and  meteors ;  Dr.  Balfour  Stewart,  of  the  Ke\v 
Observatory,  who  has  gone  on  to  look  after  the  branch  ob- 
servatories at  Valentia  and  Dublin  ;  then  Frank  Buckland 
was  staying  at  my  uncle  Charles's,  and  you  might  have  seen 
him  in  his  glory,  lying  on  the  pavement  outside  the  drawing- 
room  door,  with  the  three  monkeys  sprawling  about  him.  He 
gave  a  very  amusing  lecture  one  evening  on  oysters  and  sal- 
mon. Since  all  these  people  left  we  have  had  Mr.  Opie 
(great  nephew  of  a  great  uncle)  painting  a  very  successful 
portrait  of  my  dear  father,  and  now  we  are  alone. 

"  It  must  have  been  delightful  to  get  an  experienced  sister 
to  assist  in  the  parish  work,  but  don't  let  them  talk  thee  into 
joining  a  sisterhood.  Woman's  work  may  be  well  done 
without  all  that  ceremony,  and  whilst  there  are  wifeless 
brothers  with  parishes  to  look  after,  I  think  it  would  be  a 
shame  to  turn  deserter.  This  is  very  gratuitous  advice,  for 
thou  never  gave  a  hint  of  such  possible  change  of  raiment. 
Thou  art  gallant  about  the  Irish  Church,  in  spite  of  thy  eccle- 
siastical belongings,  and  I  should  have  great  faith  in  the 
blessing  which  would  be  granted  to  an  act  of  justice, — par- 
ticularly when  it  threatens  to  involve  a  large  amount  of  self- 
sacrifice.  But  a  calculated  self-sacrifice  spoils  all ;  it  loses  its 
own  blessing  and  the  effect  on  the  community.  I  trust  with 
thee  that  Parliament  may  be  greatly  enlightened  as  to  the 
remedy  for  Ireland,  in  the  wisest  way,  of  all  the  questions 
which  would  have  to  be  considered  if  Gladstone's  auto  dafe 
should  be  accomplished." 


37° 


MEMORIES   OF  OLD  FRIENDS. 


Caroline  Fox  to  E.  T.  Came,  written  seven  days  before  her 
going  hence. 

"  Penjerrick,  January  5,  1871. — And  now,  dear,  thank 
thee  so  much  for  that  earnest  pamphlet.  Thank  thee  for  so 
bravely  speaking  out  the  conviction,  which  was  doubtless 
given  thee  for  the  good  of  others  as  well  as  thy  own,  that 
nothing  short  of  communion  with  our  present  Lord  can  sat- 
isfy the  immense  need  of  man.  How  true  that  we  are  so 
often  fed  with  phrases,  and  even  try  sometimes  to  satisfy  our- 
selves with  phrases,  whilst  our  patient  Master  is  still  knock- 
ing at  the  door.  I  trust  that  the  seed  thou  hast  been  faith- 
fully sowing  may  lodge  in  fitting  soil,  and  bring  forth  flowers 
and  fruit,  to  the  praise  of  the  Lord  of  the  garden,  and  to  the 
joy  of  some  poor  little  human  creature  with  whom  He  deigns 
to  converse. 

"In  hopes  of  a  happy  meeting  whenever  the  fitting  time 
may  come,  and  with  very  loving  wishes  for  the  new-born 
year, — Ever  thine  very  lovingly,  CAROLINE  Fox." 


INDEX. 


PREFATORY  MEMOIR,  xv. 

ABEKEN,  285.     • 

Aberdeen,  Lord,  165,  259. 

About,  344. 

Acland,' Sir  Thomas  D.,  118. 

Adams,  Professor,  243,  244,  245,  246, 

360. 

Adelaide,  Queen,  180,  315. 
Agnew,  Miss,  184,  250. 
Airy,  Professor,  24,  220,  246,  253. 
Albemarle,  Lord,  28. 
Albert,  Prince,  112,  117,  243,  355. 
Alderson,  Baron,  251. 
Alexander  of  Russia,  319. 
Allen,  William,  93. 
Anster,  Dr.,  234. 
Arago,  30,  249. 

Arnold,  Dr  ,  188,  207,  210,  340. 
Ashantee  Princes,  98,  99. 
Ashburton,  Lady,  365,  366. 
Ashley,  Lord,  118,  286. 

BABBAGE,  146. 

Backhouse,  H.  C.,  219,  271,  272. 

Bacon  (Sculptor),  247. 

Bailey,  234. 

Balfour,  Clara,  274,  275,  276,  277,  278, 

279. 

Ball,  Professor,  230,  233,  234. 
Ball,  William,  257. 
Barclay  of  Ury,  285. 
Barclay's  Apology,  20. 
Baring,  T.  G.,  296. 
Barnicoat,  Mrs.,  223. 
Barrot,  O.,  27,  249. 
Barrow,  Sir  John,  56. 


Barth,  Dr.,  337. 

Becquerel,  30. 

Bedford,  Duke  of,  45. 

Begum  of  Oude,  10,  n,  12. 

Belcher,  Sir  E.,  194. 

Bell,  Jacob,  228. 

Benedetto,  120. 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  72,  94. 

Bergam,  268. 

Beust,  Count,  125. 

Binney,  Dr.,  313. 

Blanc,  Louis,  272. 

Bohme,  176. 

Bonaparte,  De  Canino,  140,  300. 

Bonaparte,  Joseph,  140. 

Bonar,  H.,  248. 

Borrow,  George,  202,  210. 

Boswell,  107,  195. 

Bowles,  W.  L.,  214. 

Bowring,  Sir  John,  37,  38,  53,  124. 

Boyle,  Courtney,  315. 

Brandis,  290. 

Brandram,  A.,  209,  210 

Bremer,  Miss,  229. 

Brewster,  Dr.,  48. 

Brewster,  Sir  David,  23,  299. 

Bright,  John,  286,  354,  360. 

Bronte,  Charlotte,  336. 

Brougham,  Lord,  31,  32. 

Brunei,  328. 

Buckland,  Dr.,  5,  9,  243. 

Buckland,  Frank,  6,  369. 

Buckle,  341,  342. 

Budock  Church-yard,  200. 

Bull,  adventure  with,  309,  310. 

Buller,  Charles,  188,  256. 

Burger,  121. 

371 


372 


INDEX. 


Burlington,  Lord,  24. 

Burn,  Sir  Alexander,  168. 

Burnard,  244,  247,  256. 

Burns,  106,  108. 

Burritt,  Elihu,  266,  306. 

Burton,  Captain,  337. 

Buxton,  Sir  Fowell,  35,  112,  201. 

Byron,  Ada,  9,  183. 

Byron,  Lady,  9,  183. 

Byron,  Lord,  9,  22,  39,  159,  282. 


CALVERT,  Dr.,  62,  67,  68,  69,  70,  85, 
91,  92,  97,  126, 127,  128, 129,  130, 
139,  140.  141,  142,  144.  145,  153, 
155,  158,  160,  161,  162,  164. 

Campbell,  67. 

Campbell,  Lord,  233. 

Canova,  75. 

Carclew,  25. 

Carlisle,  Lord,  337. 

Carlisle,  Richard,  33,  170. 

Carlyle,  Dr.,  132. 

Carlyle,  Mrs.,  87,  105,  133,  198,  203, 
207,  208,  239,  240,  241,  244,  265, 
266,  277,  278,  309,  360,  366. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  87,  104,  105,  106, 
107,  108,  no,  in,  112,  117,  126, 
132,  138,  140,  162,  168,  169,  170, 
172,  176,  177,  178,  179,  187,  190, 
191,  192,  193,  195,  196,  198,  199, 
203,  205,  206,  207,  208,  229,  239, 
241,  250,  255.  256,  272,  277,  293, 
342.  365.  366,  367. 

Carne,  Miss,  Letters  to,  294,  295,  296, 
3°i.  305.  3°6,  307,  314,  316,  317, 
321,  324,  327,  328,  331,  332,  338, 
341,  342,  344,  346,  347,  355,  359, 

37»- 

Caspery,  Dr.,  281. 
Castlereagh,  Lord,  39,  121. 
Cavaignac,  293. 
Cecilia,  St.,  266. 
Cellini,  331. 
Cenci,  The,  133. 
Challice,  247. 
Chalmers,  Dr.,  63,  241. 


Changarnier,  293. 
Channing,  Dr.,  37. 
Chantry,  75,  244. 
Charles  I.,  95. 
Charles  II.,  26,  79. 
Charlotte,  Princess,  8. 
Charlotte,  Queen,  8. 
Chatterton,  80. 
Chaworth,  Mary,  282. 
Chesney,  Colonel,  303. 
Christina  of  Sweden,  282. 

Clark,  Samuel,  268. 

• 

Clarke,  Sir  James,  113. 

Clarkson,  63. 

Clement,  Pope,  53. 

Cleopatra,  269. 

Cobden,  248,  265,  266,  310. 

Coldbath  Fields  Prison,  180. 

Cole,  Lord,  19. 

Coleridge,  Derwent,  2,  14,  18,  19,  27, 

46,  47,  48,  267,  268. 
Coleridge,  Hartley,  20,   21,   23,  136, 

175,  200,  211,  212,  254,  255. 
Coleridge,  Sara,  204. 
Coleridge,  S.  T.,  14,  36,  37,  63, 72,  93. 

268,  320. 
Columbus,  242. 
Combe,  George,  13. 
Compton,  Lord,  24. 
Conolly,  Dr.,  183. 
Conybeare,  148,  318. 
Cooper,  Thomas,  342. 
Coronation,  36. 
Correggio,  79,  181. 
Cowley,  Lord,  312. 
Cowper,  73,  278. 
Crabbe,  78. 
Croker,  T.  W.,  122. 
Cromwell,  34,  no,  in,  138,  190. 
Crosse,  A.,  71. 

Cruikshank,  George,  38,  144. 
Gumming,  Dr.,  286,  312,  328. 
Cunningham,  Allan,  190. 
Cunningham,  F.,  286. 
Curran,  44,  46. 
Cuvier,  50. 
Cuyp,  349. 


INDEX. 


373 


DALTON,  Dr.,  31,  69. 
Dante,  53,  154. 
Darling,  Grace,  206. 
Darwin,  Charles,  9,  104. 
D'Aubigne,  Merle,  228. 
Dawson,  George,  281. 
Day  &  Martin,  51. 

De  Bunsen,  Baron,  235,  237,  238,  243, 
258,  259,  260,  287,  288,  289,  290, 

3«i.  353- 
De  Bunsen,  Ernest,  229,  236,  237,  260, 

285,  335,  339. 

De  Bunsen,  George,  287,  289,  290. 
De  Bunsen,  Henry,  238. 
De  Dunstanville,  Lady,  25. 
De  la  Beche,  Sir  Henry,  4,  17,  19,  36, 

145.  336- 

Denbigh,  Lady,  180. 
D'Orsay,  Count,  84,  229. 
De  Quincey,  21. 
De  Stael,  Madame,  74,  121. 
De  Tocqueville,  271. 
De  Vere,  Aubrey,  224,  231,  273. 
Deville,  33,  167. 
De  Wette,  Professor,  318,  319. 
De  Wette,  Madame,  318,  319. 
Dickens,  Charles,  292. 
Diderot,  in,  163. 
Drummond,  Henry,  2. 
Dryden,  294. 
Duke,  Sir  James,  310. 
Durer,  A.,  331. 
Durham,  Lord,  102. 


EARDLEY,  Culling,  31.  32. 

Edhem  Bey,  37. 

Elgin,  Lord,  121. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  140,  154,  168,  199, 

240. 

Enniskillen,  Lord,  153. 
Enys,  John,  4,  17. 
Erasmus,  80. 
Erskine,  Thomas,  241. 
Espartero,  200. 
Everett,  228. 
Exeter,  Bishop  of,  45. 


FARADAY,  292. 

Faucit,  Helen,  267. 

Fauntleroy,  52. 

Fichte,  184. 

Fisch,  Cardinal,  72. 

Fitz-Roy,  Admiral,  9,  202. 

Flaxman,  75,  182,  270. 

Fletcher,  Mrs.,  240. 

Forbes,  Professor,  225,  337. 

Ford,  290. 

Forster,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  25,  115, 

189,  200,  231,  280. 
Fox,  C.  J.,  26,  167. 
Fox,  George,  92,  109,  153,  187,  241. 
Fox,  Mrs.  Charles,  20. 
Fox,  R.  Barclay,  5,  23,  216,  308,  310, 

314,  321,  322,  325,  326,  327. 
Fox,  Robert  Were,  4,  328,  336,  337, 

34°- 

Francia,  Dr.,  208. 
Franklin,  Lady,  261. 
Franklin,  Sir  John,  146,  252,  293,  300, 

34<5- 

Frederick  II.,  140. 

Froude,  J.  A.,  161,  188,  250,  256,  318. 
Fry,  Elizabeth,  165,  178,  180,  252. 

GALITZEN,  Princess,  70. 

Gall,  246. 

Garibaldi,  360. 

Gaudsey,  299. 

Gauss,  219. 

Gavazzi,  332,  333. 

George  III.,  8,  72. 

George  IV.,  13,  26. 

Gibbon,  198. 

Gibson,  Milner,  265. 

Gilbert,  Davies,  i,  7,  26,  34,  55. 

Gilmans,  36. 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  310.  366.  369. 

Glaisher,  369. 

Glengnrry,  13. 

Goethe,  64,  159.  199. 

Goldsmith,  126. 

Good,  170. 

Graham,  Sir  James,  165. 

Grattan,  66. 


374 


INDEX. 


Gray,  189. 

Grellet,  Stephen,  210. 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  212. 

Grote,  G..  78. 

Grote,  Mrs.,  109. 

Guggenbiihl,  Dr.,  257. 

Guizot,  78, 118, 121,  249,  251,  262, 263, 

264,-  265,  271. 
Gurney,  Anna,  201. 
Gurney,  J.  J.,  148,  210. 
Gurney,  Samuel,  183,  186,  258,  312. 

HALLAM,  H.,  271,  272,  350. 
Hamilton,  Sir  William,  5,  24,  235,  253. 
Handel,  335. 
Hare,  Julius,  64,  138,  197,  236,  247, 

248. 

Harris,  Snow,  18,  25,  145. 
Haydn,  243,  301,  335. 
Hegel,  197. 

Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  234. 
Herbert  of  Cherbury,  75. 
Herder,  104. 
Herries,  53. 
Herschel,  34,  220. 
Heynau,  General,  284. 
Hogarth,  229. 
Hogg,  J.,  97. 
Holland,  Lady,  151,  167. 
Holmes,  O.  W.,  30. 
Home,  Sir  Everard,  204. 
Hooker,  Sir  J.,  180. 
Hooker,  Sir  W.,  180. 
Hope,  43,  242. 
Houghton,  Lord,  233. 
Howell,  Miss,  300. 
Howitt,  Mary,  40. 

Humboldt,  31,  231,  252,  300,308,335. 
Hunt,  Holman,  351,  352. 
Hunt,  Leigh,  40. 
Hunter,  167. 
Hutton,  James,  49. 
Huygens,  152. 

INDIA  House,  100,  114. 
Irving,  Edward,  45,  63,  87,  170,  187, 
240,  261,  276. 


Irving,  Washington,  42. 

JEFFREY,  Lord,  28,  63,  188. 
Jephson,  Dr.,  127. 
Jerrold,  Douglas,  313. 
Jewsbury,  Geraldine,  240. 
Johns,  Charles,  219. 
Johnson,  Dr.,  106,  195. 
Johnston,  Professor,  6. 

KANT,  E.,  133,  150,  184. 

Kaulbach,  280. 

Kean,  Charles,  359. 

Kean,  Edmund,  63. 

Keats,  122. 

Kemble,  Charles,  25. 

Kent,  Duchess  of,  8. 

Kestner,  285,  286,  287. 

Keswick,  59.     • 

Kinglake,  220. 

Kingsley,  Charles,  307,  317,  318,  328, 

342- 

Kisting,  308. 
Klopstock,  121. 
Knox,  John,  108. 
Kossuth,3i3,  314. 
Kotzebue,  319. 

LAMARTINE,  249,  263. 

Lamb,   Charles,   14,  22,  52,  59,  159, 

188. 

Landor,  W.  S.,  75,  120,  236,  316. 
Landseer,  Sir  E.,  228,  229. 
Lane,  E.  W.,  38. 
Lardner,  Dr.,  24,  49. 
Laurence,  Samuel,  190,  224,  233,  265. 
Lavater,  15. 
Law,  176. 

Lawrence,  Lord,  137,  138. 
L'Abbadie,  280,  337. 
Leibnitz,  131,  158,  184. 
Lemon,  Sir  Charles,  4,  8,  25,  42,  49, 

57,  209.  245,  271,  320,  330. 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  349. 
Lepsius,  336. 
Leslie,  R.  A.,  292. 
Lessing,  64. 


INDEX. 


375 


Leverrier,  246. 

Lewes,  G.  H.,  234. 

Lieder,  326. 

Lind,  Jenny,  253,  299. 

Linnaeus,  96. 

Lister,  35. 

Livingstone,  Dr.,  337,  338. 

Lloyd,  Charles,  58,  rg2. 

Lloyd,  Professor,  146,  148,  152,  230, 

231,  234,  235,  251,  252,  253,  297, 

298,  301,  303,  337. 
Lockhart,  28. 
Longfellow,  228. 
Louis  Napoleon,  249,  293,  310,  311, 

312. 

Louis  Philippe,  218,  249. 
Luther,  6,  80,  129,  132,  157. 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  35,  172. 
Lyne,  Catherine,  302. 

MACAULAY,  Miss,  352. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  48,  66,  267,  330. 

Mackenzie,  Holt,  28. 

M'Neil,  Hugh,  312. 

Macready,  292. 

Mahomet  Ali,  55. 

Malibran,  52. 

Manning,  Cardinal,  243. 

Marie  Amalie,  Queen,  249. 

Martin,  John,  7,  346. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  37,  155,  207,  255, 

321. 

Martyn,  Henry,  353. 
Maskelyne,  Professor,  332. 
Mathew,  Father,  203. 
Mathews,  Charles,  the  elder,  43,  44. 
Mathews,  Charles,  the  younger,  44. 
Maurice,   F.   D.,   171,  200,  224,  229, 

242,  258,  261,  291,  305,  315,  322, 

324- 

May,  Thomas,  16. 
Mazzini,  309. 
Melanchthon,  80,  120. 
Melbourne,  Lord,  247. 
Melvill,  Henry,  63. 
Mendelssohn,  236,  339. 
Merivale,  Herman,  189,  232. 


Metternich,  250. 

Mezzofanti,  40,  283. 

Michelet,  131,  228,  263. 

Mill,  Henry,  72,  91. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  77,  78,  81,  82,  83, 
84,  85,  88,  89,  90,  91,  92,  93,  94, 
95,  96,  97, 100,  101,  102, 103,  108, 
109,  114,  115,  163,  167,  172,  177, 
181,  182,  191,  196,  207,  225,  248, 

327.  347- 

Milman,  Dean,  225,  320. 
Mirabeau,  137,  277. 
Molve,  Mohammed,  10,  15. 
Montpensier,  Duke  of,  357. 
Moore,  Tom,  5. 
Moultrie,  57. 
Munster,  Lord,  15. 
Murchison,  Sir  R.,  231,  300. 
Murray,  A.,  244. 
Murray,  John,  13. 
Murray,  Lady  George,  8. 
Murray,  Sir  George,  33. 

NADIR  Shah,  56. 

Napoleon  I.,  68,  71,  in,  225,  244. 

Ncander,  163. 

Nelson,  Lord,  97. 

Neukomm,  Chevalier,  243,  285,  291, 

297,  298,  301. 
Newgate,  166. 
Newman,  F.,  242,  270. 
Newman,  J.  H.,  224. 
Newstead  Abbey,  42,  283. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  34,  152. 
Nichol,  Professor,  113,  335. 
Nicholas* I.,  57,  317. 
Niebuhr,  198,  237,  301. 
Nightingale,  Florence,  336. 
Normanby,  Lord,  249. 
Northampton,  Lord,  24.  118. 
Northumberland,  Duke  of,  292. 
Norwich,  Bishop  of,  49. 
Novalis,  155. 

O'CONNELL,  Daniel,  33,  66,  118,  231, 

242,  298. 
Opie,  Amelia,  173,  203,  287,*3i6. 


INDEX. 


Opie,  John,  203. 

Overbeck,  236. 

Overburg,  70. 

Owen,  Professor,  147,  149,  150,  151, 

167,  168,  187,  203,  204,  225,  227, 

234,  270,  300. 
Owen,  Robert,  56,  343. 

PALEY,  231. 

Palgrave,  Francis,  351. 

Palmerston,  Lord,  265. 

Pantheon,  114. 

Paris,  30. 

Parry,  Lady,  183. 

Pascal,  64,  119. 

Pauli,  Dr.,  287,  288. 

Peard,  Colonel,  360. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  84,  118,  165,  259, 

265. 

Pellico,  Silvio,  122. 
Penn,  William,  280,  335. 
Perugino,  81. 
Petermann,  300. 
Playfair,  Professor,  50,  284. 
Pope,  A.,  3,  278. 
Powell,  Professor,  7. 
Powles,  Cowley,  14. 
Prinsep,  Val,  351. 
Prussia,  King  of,  166,  197,  239. 
"  Punch,"  267. 
Pusey,  Dr.,  73,  188. 

QUEBEC,  189. 

Queen,    H.M.  The,   8,  25,    38,   168, 

173.  177.  178,  229,  355. 
Quetelet,  146. 

RACINE,  271. 

Raleigh,  344. 

Raphael,  70,  132,  181. 

Reade,  Charles,  334. 

Reid,  28. 

Richardson  of  Lisburn,  303. 

Richmond,  George,  131,  239. 

Richter,  Jean  Paul,  120. 

Rigaud,  S.,  218. 

Robertson,  Rev.  F.,  353,  361. 


Robinson,  Dr.,  303. 

Roche,  Sir  Boyle,  66. 

Roebuck,  170, 

Rogers,  S.,  214,  265. 

Rolfe,  Judge,  256. 

Rollin,  Ledru,  271. 

Romilly,  124. 

Roscoe,  Wm.,  212.. 

Ross,  Captain  James,  10,  24,  27,  136, 

147,  252. 

Ross,  Sir  John,  279. 
Rosse,  Lord,  298,  299,  301. 
Rousseau,  106,  107,  108. 
Rubens,  120. 
Rugby  School,  210. 
Rumball,  145. 
Rundall,  S.,  250. 
Ruskin,  274,  346. 
Russell,  Lord  John,  32,  183,  249, 
Rydal  Mount,  21. 


JE,  Sir  Edard,  146,  300. 
Saffi,  309. 
Sambell,  65. 
Sand,  319. 
Sandon,  Lord,  24. 
Savage,  281. 
Savonarola,  129,  132. 
Saxe-Weimer,  Duchess  of,  180. 
Scheffer,  Ary,  342,  349. 
Schelling,  185. 
Schiller,  64,  121,  197. 
Schimmelpenninck,    Mrs.,    184,    18$, 

235.  332- 

Schlegel,  133,  134. 
Schleiermacher,  97,  143,  199,  319. 
Schonbein,  292. 
Schwabe,  Madame,  349. 
Scott,  Alexander,  277. 
Sedgwick,  Professor,  7,  42,  133,  148, 

360. 

Shadwell,  Vice-Chancellor,  167. 
Shakespeare,  56. 
Sharp,  Conversation,  85. 
Shelley,  39,  68,  133,  205,  261. 
Sheepshanks,  T.,  42. 
Sheridan,  26. 


INDEX. 


377 


Shore,  97. 

Siddons,  Mrs.,  254. 

Smith,  George,  334. 

Smith,  Southwood,  242. 

Smith,  Sydney,  42,  63,  109. 

Smith,  William,  181. 

Soane,  Sir  John,  45. 

Sopwith,  Professor,  42. 

Soult,  36. 

Southey,  14,  20,  59. 

Southey,  Mrs.,  59. 

Spedding,  James,  233. 

Spencer,  Lord,  97,  129. 

Spinoza,  73,  154. 

St.  Aubin ,  Lady  Elizabeth,  42. 

Stanfield,  187. 

Stanger,  Mrs.,  145. 

Stanhope,  Lady  Hester,  i,  39,  54. 

Stanley,  Arthur  P.,  201,  251,  332,  360. 

Stanley,  Bishop,  201,  203,  273. 

Steffens,  235. 

Stephen,  63. 

Sterling,  Captain,  266. 

Sterling,  John,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65, 
66,  67,  68,  69,  70,  71,  72,  73,  74, 
75,  86, 119, 120, 121, 122,  123, 128, 
131,  132,  133,  134,  135,  136,  137, 
138,  139,  140,  141,  142,  143,  144, 
148,  149.  151,  152,  153,  154,  155, 
158,  159,  161,  162,  163,  164,  165, 
181,  182,  184,  185,  186,  187,  188, 
189,  190,  195,  196,  198,  199,  203, 

204,  2O8,    214,  221,  222. 

Stevenson,  Dr.,  315,  318. 
Stewart,  Dugald,  28. 
Stilling,  64. 
Stokes,  Professor,  303. 
Stothard,  75. 
Stowe,  Mrs.  H.  B.,  313. 
Strauss,  D.,  236. 
Strickland,  Sir  George,  31. 
Struve,  Otto,  299. 
Stuart,  Lord  Dudley,  313. 
Stuart,  Sir  John,  124. 
Sutherland,  Duchess  of,  339. 
Swedenborg,  120,  176. 


TALFOURD,  Field,  273,  292. 

Talfourd,  Judge,  318. 

Talleyrand,  298,  301. 

Taweil,  William,  218. 

Taylor,  Sir  Henry,  147,  151,  159,  266. 

Tennyson,  149,  224,  272, 349,  350,  351. 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  292. 

Thiers,  293. 

Thirlwall,  172. 

Tholuck,  236,  260. 

Thompson,  G.,  32. 

Thorwaldsen,  75. 

Tieck,  121,  196,  197. 

Tippoo  Sahib,  114. 

Titian,  90. 

Trelawny,  Lady,  341,  342. 

Trench,  Archbishop,  224,  261. 

Tupper,  Martin  F.,  331. 

Turner,  J.  W.  M.,  258,  259. 

Turner,  Sharon,  24. 

Tyndall,  Professor,  365. 

VAN  DE  WEYER,  249. 

Verran,  Michael,  190,  191,  192,  193, 

194,  195,  205,  206. 
Vinet,  264,  319,  320. 
Voltaire,  22,  24,  140. 
Vyvyan,  Sir  Richard,  16. 


WADDINGTON,  237. 

Wales,  Prince  of,  245. 

Watt,  61,  76. 

Webster,  144,  169. 

Weekes,  245. 

Wellington,  60,  127,  151,  225,  320. 

Wesley,  350. 

Westmacott,  182. 

Westminster  Abbey,  36. 

Weymouth,  35. 

Whately,  230. 

Wheatstone,  7,  24,  34. 

Whewell,  24,  105,  133,  146,  252,  345. 

White,  Blanco,  225. 

Wightwick,  G.,  18,  43,  52,  254,  255, 

292. 
Wilberforce,   Samuel,   48,   105,    118, 

119,  183. 
32* 


378 

Wilberforce,  William,  63. 
William  IV.,  19. 
Wilson,  149. 
Windermere,  23. 
Wolfe,  General,  189. 
Wolff,  238. 
Wolff,  Joseph,  i,  39. 


INDEX. 


Wolff,  Lady  G.,  i,  39. 
Woolman,  John,  92. 
Wordsworth,  21,  143,  173,  174,  175, 
200,  213,  214,  215,  216,  280,  286. 


XAVIER,  347. 


THE    END. 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


